Not much of difference between 'Indian' and 'Indian Airlines'

New Delhi, Dec 12 (UNI) National carrier Indian Airlines may have pruned its name to mere 'Indian', but for Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel, there is not much of a difference between the two.

''Indian and Indian Airlines are the same and the difference lies in only the branding of the aircraft in its fleet,'' Mr. Patel told the Rajya Sabha during question hour today.

Concurring with Ms Jaya Bachchan's (SP) concern that perception among the general people about Air India and Indian was far from satisfactory, the minister said there was scope for correction and improvement.

He said with the entry of private players in the passenger aircraft segment, travellers have now wide choices and options.

''People are exercising this choice but there is need to patronise the national carriers. It will take some time to stabilise the situation.'' Replying to another query, the minister said that during the last ten months, Air India aircraft were involved in five incidents associated with defects like tyre burst and malfunctioning of weather radar or plane engine at Mumbai and Delhi.

Claiming that manintenance of Indian and Air India aircraft was second to none in the world, Mr Patel said safety was of paramount concern to his ministry.

''We have taken a conscious decision not to import any aircraft which is more than 15 years old for induction in the fleet of national carriers.'' He also blamed inactivity on the part of governments in the past in taking a decision on acquring new aircraft for the national carriers.

''For several years, we did not take any decision on acquisition of aircraft. The process is going to start with the onset of the new year,'' he said, exuding optimism that it would considerably streamline the passenger travelling segment.

He said despite strict adherence to the maintenance schedules and regulatory requirements, technical snags, defects and system failures are experienced by the airline industry, including Air India, due to various reasons such as the operating environment effects of the ageing fleet.

Mr Patel pointed out that Air India, like other airlines, is under continuous surveillance of not only the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), but also from international regulatory bodies such as Federal Aviation Administration of the US, European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) of the European Union, Transport Canada, ICAO and COSCAP.

''Air India's maintenance organisation has always met their requirements and stood to their stringent tests,'' he added.

UNI/SKS MSJ DB1330