The civil aviation ministry has decided to roll out the new ground-handling policy in January 2011 despite hectic lobbying by private airlines, ushering in a quiet revolution in quality of support services at airports across the country. 

As per a report in the Economic Times, the new policy will eliminate deployment of outsourced manpower and restrict the number of service providers operating at airports -- improving service standards, safety and security. In the bargain , private airlines will lose their right to carry out their own ground-handling , instead hiring national carrier Air India or independent agencies nominated by airport operators. 

The value of ground-handling business at airports across the country is estimated to be Rs 1,000 crore, and is now divided among a large number of small agencies. While private airlines are still dragging their feet, the civil aviation ministry recently convened a meeting of all airport operators and emphasised that there was no question of further delay in the implementation of the policy. 
The meeting was attended by representatives of GMR that runs Delhi and Hyderabad airports, GVK (Mumbai & Bangalore airports), Cochin International Airport Ltd and the Airports Authority of India (AAI), which runs dozens of airports across the country, including the ones at Chennai, Kolkata, Goa and Jaipur, said two officials from aviation ministry. 

The updated guidelines on groundhandling were approved by Parliament in 2007, but private airlines have been successfully putting it off year after year, saying they are not ready for the switchover. Ground-handling services include checkin , baggage handling, cargo handling, aircraft cleaning, loading and unloading of food & beverages on aircraft, proving electricity back-up to aircraft while they are at airports, supplying water to aircraft, ferrying passengers to and from planes and maintaining toilets. As of now, airlines are allowed to handle these services on their own, but many nominate outside agencies, rather than using approved ground-handling service available at airports. The nominated agencies in turn outsource staff from manpower suppliers. The home ministry, security agencies and the bureau of civil aviation security (BCAS) feel that deployment of such a large number of contract employees could pose a security threat. 

A key aspect often blamed for 9-11 terrorist attacks in New York is security loopholes at American airports, which allowed arms to be carried on board passenger aircraft. Similarly , hijack of an Indian aircraft which took off from Kathmandu in 1999 was primarily on account of arms being smuggled in. Therefore, a new policy on groundhandling , mandating use of full-time staff by a limited number of agencies, was recommended by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) and approved by Parliament in 2007. 

Since the issue concerns security and is being watched keenly by the home ministry , most players in the industry refrained from speaking on record. A representative of a low-cost airline and a senior official of a full-service airline said on condition of anonymity that most airlines have not tied up with approved ground-handling agencies . Two large foreign airlines approached by ET declined to comment and similar was the response from Jet Airways , Air India and the AAI. GMR too did not respond to ET queries. 

Some private airlines have said that they should be allowed to continue with check-in of passengers, while other services can be run according to the new guidelines . The civil aviation ministry and airport operators feel that this should not open the door for further delays in implementing the policy or become a back-door entry for outsourced manpower on contract. 

Therefore, the issue has been referred to the law ministry. AAI wants the policy to be implemented without any modification and that is the mandate of Parliament, a senior official at the Authority said. The home ministry and BCAS also do not want any loophole that will allow persons other than full-time employees of airlines, airport operators or groundhandling agencies to work at airports. 

"Airlines this time have not asked us for an extension also, so the policy will roll out on January 1," said a senior bureaucrat with the civil aviation ministry. To ensure that there is no further delay, the ministry has designated a joint secretary, Alok Sinha , to oversee implementation of the new guidelines. It has been decided after the recent review by the joint secretary that the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security will not issue passes to representatives of 'non-entitled entities' (outsourced manpower) after December 31. 
Most of the ground-handling agencies shortlisted for various AAI airports under the new norms are joint venture with foreign partners like TAGS of Thailand, Novia of Denmark and NAS of Kuwait. It is estimated that the Authority would get revenue of at least Rs130 crore per annum under the revenue-sharing agreement these agencies will operate through. By not implementing the policy for three years, revenue of at least Rs400 crore has been lost, the AAI official said.