Food for thought: Air India to save Rs 8-10 cr on veg menu decision: Minister

AIR India’s decision to stop serving non-vegetarian meals to economy class passengers on domestic flights is expected to save Rs 8 to 10 crore annually, the government said on July 27. Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said the move is to save costs, reduce wastage, improve service and also avoid any chances of mix-up of meals. “The annual saving is expected to be around Rs 8 to 10 crore per annum,” he said...
in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. On whether the views of air passengers were solicited before taking the decision, Sinha replied.. in the affirmative and added that passenger feedback through cabin crew was received. The debt-laden national carrier has been taking various steps to reduce costs and revive its financial fortunes at a time when talks on disinvestment of the national carrier is doing the rounds and even the Cabinet has given its approval for it.
These include rationalisation of certain loss making routes and enhanced utilisation of new fleet. The National Aviation Company of India Ltd (NACIL) was formed on April 1, 2007 by the merger of the erstwhile Indian Airlines and erstwhile Air India. “The erstwhile Air India had placed an order for 68 Boeing aircraft in December 2005 and the erstwhile Indian Airlines had placed an order for 43 Airbus aircraft in February 2006,” Raju said.
The Air India over the past few years and especially since the implementation of the Turnaround Plan, has been constantly improving its operational as well as financial performance. In the financial year 2015-16, the national carrier posted an operating profit of Rs.105 crore. In the Financial Year 2016-17 also the company has been steadily improving its all-round performance.
The details of Equity Infusion received by Air India Ltd. from the Govt. under the Turnaround Plan approved by the government for the last three years is as under:
During 2016-17, Air India received Rs. 2465.21 cr from the government compared to Rs 3300 in 2015-16 and Rs. 5780 in 2014-15. Similarly, domestic market share of Air India in the last three years also showed improvement. In 2014-15, domestic market share of Air India was 17.9%, 15.9% in 2015-16 and 14.2% in 2016-17. This information was given by Minister of State for Civil Aviation Shri Jayant Sinha in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha on July 27.