With Air India pilots' agitation affecting normal schedules, the Minister for Civil Aviation, Mr Ajit Singh, met the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, and the United Progressive Alliance Chairperson, Ms Sonia Gandhi, here on Friday.
At the meeting, the Prime Minister is believed to have asked Mr Ajit Singh to ensure that there is no surge in air fares.
The Prime Minister expressed his concern even as the Directorate General of Civil Aviation wrote to various airlines asking them to ensure that there is no “upward revision” in tariff due to ongoing industrial unrest in Air India and also surge in demand.
This follows search by the DGCA of Web sites of airlines and media reports as well as feedback from air travellers that fares on certain high demand sectors had registered a sudden spurt. The fares were said to be 15-20 per cent higher on various metro routes compared to a month ago.
Sources indicate that the Civil Aviation Minister's meeting with Ms Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister was to keep them abreast of the hard steps that the airline is taking to bring about integration between Air India and Indian.
“The decision to train pilots of both Air India and Indian on the Boeing 787 aircraft is the first hard step that has been taken to implement the merger process. The Minister probably wanted to keep the political leadership abreast of the latest developments in the Air India agitation,” sources indicated.
Earlier in the day, speaking to newspersons in Parliament, the Minister said that the Government was willing to talk to any one as long as they returned to work. “It is not an issue of being stubborn. If they want to talk, they should come to work and all issues can be discussed,” the Minister said, adding that the High Court had already declared the strike illegal.
Mr Singh ruled out imposing provisions of the Essential Services Maintenance Act on Air India workers.