New Delhi:
Cash-strapped Air India has said it can no longer afford to upgrade seats of parliamentarians or carry their extra baggage for free any more - especially when expensive seats are booked by paying passengers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stopped first class air travel for bureaucrats and asking them to pay for their spouses as part of its austerity measures. But no such rule has yet been put in place for parliamentarians and Air India, in its communication to Parliament, noted that it gets a large number of requests from MPs which it can no longer accommodate.
"Tickets are booked by passengers well in advance and, hence, there might be no Business Class seats available at the time of the tours of Parliamentary Committees," read the letter from Air India Chairman and Managing Director Rohit Nandan to Lok Sabha Secretary General P K Grover.
The airline has been receiving requests even "for change of aircraft to accommodate Hon'ble Parliament Committee in Business Class during Parliamentary Committee visits and to relax baggage limitations," the letter said.
Part of the reason is that the national carrier is changing its configuration of seats.
The domestic fleet of Air India has narrow-body planes like Airbus A-319s, which have eight business class seats and A-320s and A-321s, which have 20. These aircraft are now being reconfigured to have only economy seats to compete with no-frill carriers and maximize revenue, Mr Nandan wrote.
"Therefore, it is not possible to accommodate Hon'ble MPs in Business Class in those sectors which are served by all-economy configuration aircraft. With regard to request for allowing extra baggage, it is reiterated that as per existing policy no extra baggage is allowed," he said categorically.
On several occasions, all airlines, including Air India, have also faced flak from parliamentarians, with the Privileges Committee of Parliament saying late last year that airports and airlines were not adhering to protocol norms and courtesy to be extended to the MPs.
A 2007 protocol, which has to be followed by all airports and airlines, had listed the norms that include reserved lounge facilities, complimentary tea, coffee or water, free access to the terminal building and designation of one officer of airport as Protocol Officer to extend all facilities and courtesies to MPs.