Ground handlers at airports brace for tough times

The one-week ban on entry of foreign scheduled aircraft into India from Sunday will hurt the accredited ground handling agencies and could lead to a situation where their employees either take a pay cut or work without pay.

“From a peak of 950 weekly international departures, it (the number) came down by about 60 per cent last week and will hit zero on Sunday,” a company spokesperson for Celebi Aviation Holding Inc told BusinessLine. He added that with a high fixed-cost base and no revenues coming in, the industry will have to take serious measures to remain viable. Ground handling companies do a variety of jobs, including cleaning the aircraft, toilets and packing meals, all within the short turnaround time.