NEW DELHI: The Vijay Mallya-led Kingfisher Airlines led the chart of the loss-making carriers by reporting a massive Rs 1,602 crore in losses in 2008-09, followed by Jet Airways with a loss of Rs 1,032 crore.
However on the positive side, the low-cost operators -IndiGo and Paramount Airways- managed to register profit during the last fiscal, despite a negative growth of 4.66 per cent in the aviation sector in 2008.
The balancesheet of IndiGo was in the green with a profit of Rs 82.16 crore while the Chennai-based Paramount had a profit of Rs 7.26 crore, Patel said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.
Other budget airlines - SpiceJet and GoAir- suffered losses of Rs 352.50 crore and Rs 22.55 crore respectively, he added.
Meanwhile, the cash-strapped the national carrier Air India also reported a loss of Rs 2,226 crore during 2007-08, minister said, adding the airline also incurred a loss of Rs 65 crore during the five-day stir by its senior pilots this September protesting against the management decision to slash flying-related allowances and productivity-linked incentives.
In 2008, 41.3 million passengers travelled by air compared to 43.3 million the previous year. However, between January and October this year, domestic passenger traffic grew by 3.32 per cent.
Giving details about the turnaround plan of Air India, Patel said the national carrier has set a target of reducing the costs by Rs 1,500 crore and increasing revenue by Rs 1,200 crore.
The turnaround plan, which has been broadly divided into three phases of nine months, 9-18 months and 18-36 months, includes a host of measures like rationalising loss- making routes in domestic and international sectors.
The airline has also planned to rationalise meal uplift and manpower at the domestic and foreign stations, besides returning some of the aircraft on lease and increasing fuel efficiency of planes by reducing weight.
It also has plans to rationalise wage agreements, including allowances and incentives, with a cross-section of its 32,000 employees.
On the revenue front, it is planning to hive off engine MRO/line maintenance as a separate strategic business unit for better utilisation of capacity and manpower to maximise revenues, Patel said.