CHENNAI: If you were to ask what ails one of the oldest flying clubs this side of the world, don’t be surprised if they ask for an extra sheet of paper to make a list.
The Madras Flying Club may have once been the destination for every young, aspiring pilot who dreamed of throttling an aeroplane across the sky, but now, the 85-year-old entity at the far end of the airport at Meenambakkam, is seeing its darkest hour yet. From their ‘hosts’ trying their best to get them to vacate to infighting that nearly tore the club down, the MFC has been through some hellish weather and is none the worse for wear.
After the British started an aerodrome at Meenambakkam in 1930 — a place where they had golf links initially — the place became a hub for aviation and airmen training, before eventually housing the airport, “In a sense, the airport was built there only because the Club was situated in Meenambakkam. How things have changed,” says Captain Sebastian Joseph, with a sardonic laugh. Joseph is the Honorary Secretary of the Madras Flying Club and has been trying to keep a handle on things for a while. Over the course of the last 3-4 years, it is evident that the Airports Authority of India (AAI) seems hell-bent on evicting them and reclaiming the precious space that the MFC’s building and hangars stand on.
And in an ongoing battle involving a case that began in August 2013, things aren’t appearing to be going well for the only non-private club this side of the peninsula. “To make matters more difficult for us, they stopped issuing airport entry passes for our students and even the staff from January, citing clearance and security issues,” explains Joseph, “None of us could manage to wait around and fly to Delhi to get passes each month, so our students were stranded without being able to enter the airport for classes and flying hours,” he adds. Without students taking to the air for five months, paying the charges, salaries for 25 employees and keeping the aircraft ship-shape is proving a challenge for them. Even before the passes were stalled, AAI had trained their sights on the Flying Club to gradually phase them out. The previous Director General of Civil Aviation had stated that it was “inevitable that the Club will have to move someplace soon,” because of the expansion needs of the new airport. But while an eviction notice had been served to the club, all the other buildings and offices around hadn’t been asked to vacate, alleges Joseph. “We even asked them to resettle us somewhere, like they did with the Trivandrum Flying Club when the new terminal was built, but they flatly refused to do anything,” he states. They asked MFC to shift most of their flying operations to the aerodrome at Vellore, a few years ago and then sent them a stiff notice in 2012 asking them to pay commercial rates for landing and using the aerodrome.
“We’re a Category-I club and we were eligible for this subsidy. They argued that it applied only to Madras as we were the Madras Flying Club and asked us to pay up,” he adds. A lot of arbitration later, the Club packed up and moved their flying base to Tirupati and Puducherry. “It isn’t easy, but it’s not as bothersome as fighting just to let students fly small planes,” he states. As all the members of the governing board are veteran pilots with either Air India or Jet Airways, their time was and is at a premium. This led them to appoint a Secretary to manage all the paperwork and ensure that things went well, “Initially things were alright and he (The Secretary) managed to get the entry passes for the students for May. But then things started taking a turn for the worse,” says Captain Jacob Selvaraj, a former Chairman of the MFC and an alumnus who earned his wings with a scholarship from the State Government, two decades ago.
After the Secretary staged a coup, allegedly demanding a permanent position and a seat with the board, the rest of them had a showdown at the MFC office on Saturday — leading to his ouster. “I have been busy with several Union issues, so I have left the functioning of the club for the last 4-5 years,” says Captain D Balaraman, who served as Chairman in 2004 and is popular among pilots union circles, “They sent me a Mayday call yesterday (on Saturday) and I had to rush down to sort it out. There was an ugly scene and a lot of shouting, but we are regrouping now and are looking at a lot of changes ahead,” he says confidently. Balaraman, who admits to having fought to get equal flying time when he was earning his stripes in ‘87, says that even he was “shocked” at the current state of the club. Putting all the hullabaloo behind them, the board has formed a Special Committee comprising Balaraman and Selvaraj to oversee the turnaround of the MFC.
“The first thing that we need is an audit. Once we figure out what needs to be done, then we will look at how to bring in the funds necessary for a turnaround,” says the Jet Airways pilot. Where will the money come from? Either the state or the Civil Aviation Ministry.
“We will approach the highest aviation authorities and appeal to them to increase support to us to ensure that we can improve the quality of our club and the teaching we impart to young students. I am even open to meeting the new PM and taking it up,” he says confidently. Will this confidence help the club find it’s wings again? Only time will tell.