Air India needs to further improve on customer service: Ashok Lavasa

Ashok Lavasa is moving to the environment ministry after a nine-month stint as aviation secretary. He spoke to Mihir Mishra about his tenure and said he was pleased with the performance of Air India but wants it to improve customer service further. Edited excerpts:

What were the areas you focused on during your stint at the civil aviation ministry?

Ashok Lavasa: Anumber of things have been finalised. Basically, we were working on policy initiatives during this period and we have either been able to bring it to the final stage of their completion or they have indeed been completed.

Can you elaborate on a few of these issues?

Ashok Lavasa: We faced a (safety) downgrade a month after I joined. Our focus had been on getting it back. A great effort was made to revamp the DGCA by filling a lot of vacancies, which had been done in the last six months. All the work helped us to reach a position where we sent a team to the US and invited the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) for audit.

Are you satisfied with the performance of Air India?

Ashok Lavasa: I am pleased with the performance. The airline has shown improvement in terms of ontime performance and reducing operational expenses and losses. They have been able to start new routes and enter Star Alliance. They have also been able to take decisions on rationalising their routes.

What more do you think the airline needs to do?

Ashok Lavasa: I would certainly feel that they need to work more in terms of maintaining their aircraft and also reducing their repair time. In terms of customer service, they further need to improve. They are working on a customer service plan and I hope they will be able to achieve that.