(a) whether Air India is the most over-staffed airline in the world;
(b) if so, whether Air India`s average cost per employee is over Rs.5 lakhs per year;
(c) if so, the details thereof;
(d) the average cost of per employee in Air India in comparison to other public sector undertakings; and
(e) the steps proposed for making Air India viable.
THE MINISTER OF CIVIL AVIATION (SHRI SHARAD YADAV)
(a), (b), (c) and (d): Based on the fleet strength of 23
aircraft of Air India, the number of employees per aircraft
is 763. The number of employees vis-a-vis the number of
aircraft in Air India is high because, unlike the foreign
airlines, there is hardly any outsourcing or service
subsidiaries and fleet augmentation has not taken place.
During the year 1999-2000, the average cost per employee was
Rs.5,02.035 excluding crew allowances and Rs.6,04,279 with
crew allowances.
(e): Air India has taken following steps for make it
viable:-
(i) Freeze on external recruitment in non-operational
categories;
(ii) Several posts of India based officers
abroad have been abolished;
(iii) Rolling back of retirement
age from 60 to 58 years;
(iv) Redeployment of employees from
non-operational to operational areas;
(v) Two voluntary
scheme have been notified viz. shorter working week for a
period of two years extendable upto five years.