The operational integration of Air-India and Indian Airlines, aimed at the emergence of a single national carrier, appears to have gained tremendous momentum. The surplus employees of one carrier would now work for the other.

For instance, the airport security operations at Delhi is being handled by IA while in Mumbai it is handled by A-I. The excess Air-India employees in Delhi have been deployed to offer their services to IA.

The financial implications, in terms of salary and allowances, would be adjusted between the two airlines based on an internal agreement between the two companies, a senior A-I executive told Business Standard.

While an integrated frequency scheduling programme is set to take off from April 2004, free interlining between two airlines has been rolled out wherein a passenger holding an A-I ticket can fly Indian Airlines.

To start with, the process has been rolled out in 3 sectors including Delhi-Bangkok, Delhi-Singapore and Chennai-Singapore. Free endorsability in the Gulf sectors including Delhi-Muscat, Kochin Muscat, Calicut-Dubai and Kochin-Dubai routes have been approved.

"A passenger holding a ticket of one airline can fly the other without any complication. An internal mechanism has been worked out to compensate the difference in fares between the two carriers," he added.

The integration process is being rolled out in phases. In the first phase, around 13 common stations in which A-I and IA operates is being focused on.

The integration of the scheduling operations on routes such as Chennai-Singapore and Kerala-Gulf sectors, essentially mean that the frequency of flights of two airlines have been adjusted and re-scheduled in such a way that one airline complements the other and there is no overlapping in flights.

For instance, if A-I operates on a particular route in the morning, IA will operate on that sector in the evening. Currently, the two operate independently of each other.

The operational integration, being viewed as a move towards the emergence of one strong national carrier with a combined fleet of around 100 aircraft, has in fact become a necessity to keep costs under control and fight competition from international carriers.