Fuel faux pas

Aug. 10: Problem-ridden Air India today had another brush with controversy when oil companies refused to refuel its aircraft as cheques issued by the airline had bounced.

However, the embarrassment to the national carrier was short-lived. After hectic parleys between the civil aviation and petroleum ministries, supplies were resumed.

Still the stand-off was long enough for four Air India flights to be delayed from Calcutta by about one-and-a-half hours to four hours.

“Refuelling of aircraft stopped around 4.30pm and resumed again at 7.30pm after the issue was resolved in Delhi,” an Air India official said in Calcutta.

As a result, flights from Calcutta to New Delhi, Bangalore and Chennai, which were scheduled to take off after 5pm, were stranded for hours with around 300 passengers.

The Calcutta-Delhi flight was scheduled to take off at 5pm but could only leave at 9pm, airport sources said. The flights to Chennai and Bangalore took off after that. Pradip Dam, a scientist with a government research lab in Jodhpur who was to fly to Delhi, said, “We were told there was some technical problem.”

Air India officials said the flight to Mumbai that was scheduled to take off at 8pm was delayed by 90 minutes.

Air India was put on a cash-and-carry mode from December on account of non-payment of Rs 2,200 crore in dues to the three state-run oil companies. Under cash-and-carry, supplies are made only when cash is paid.

The oil firms apparently took the step today after cheques from the national carrier towards payment for fuel bounced. Air India officials said they had assured the oil firms that all present dues would be cleared within 24 hours.

Cheques for Rs 3.4 crore to Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL), Rs 2.7 crore to Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL) and about Rs 10 crore to Indian Oil Corporation had bounced.

According to civil aviation ministry officials, the national carrier’s cheques dated August 8 and August 9 bounced because of some accounting problem.

“We have given Air India Rs 30 crore to clear the current dues of the oil firms,” said a ministry official.