Editorial»
Bettering RA image
DEC 24 - It has been some weeks since a letter printed in this paper made a stinging remark about RA for being an international airline with 100% of its fleet grounded. Never in RA’s history had the confidence level sunk so low. RA’s both jets were grounded not once but twice. RA did its best to coax one aircraft to do the work of the two.
This was, in effect, little better than a bird trying to fly with only one wing. The schedule went haywire and the passengers, who could not fly, went berserk leading to heated verbal exchanges and even minor scuffling and exchange of a few punches at the check-in-counter! Most passengers must have been unable to figure out how it was possible to have confirmed seats but no aircraft.
The reasons given by the top management regarding the dismal state of maintenance, in particular, was that (a) there was shortage of engineers to carry out the normal day to day maintenance works as some had flying duties and (b) RA was pressing its B-757 for as long as twelve hours every day while it was normal for other airlines to keep this to around eight hours.
B-757 is manned by just two flying crews unlike B-727 which used to have three crews, including a flight engineer. Most flight engineers, who were with RA during the B-727 era, have either left or were transferred to managerial or operational jobs. The ground engineer should not be confused with a flight engineer. And it is the ground engineer, who certify that an aircraft is fit for flying before every flight. Lately, RA flights started carrying their own engineers to do the certifying at the other end as a cost cutting measure. While this might have helped in one way, its repercussion is apparent only now. It, otherwise, used to pay handsome amount to other airlines for providing such services.
It is difficult to believe that a B-757 flying in other countries gets rest of sixteen hours for every eight hours of flight. But then, those airlines must be having far too many aircrafts, unlike RA. How can any one claim that the aircraft does not get adequate time for maintenance now? If an airline has adequate number of aircrafts, then the flexibility to act quickly, and with as little disturbance as possible, is readily available within the system. It must have been bad enough trying to manage with only one aircraft. It must have been a colossal disaster of some sort when both the planes were unable to fly. It was a misadventure on RA’s part to have expanded its network with little regard to its capability. In Nepal we have a saying - “ghati-heri haad nil-nu” ?. It means you should not bite more than you can chew. RA simply does not have the fleet to fly to renowned hubs with a fleet of just two old aircrafts and it has lost far more than it gained by doing so.
For those who loved concocting wild theories, the grounding of both the B-757s was too serious to be ignored. First, conspiracy theory, as carried out in local vernacular, believes that the engineers were responsible for the groundings as management had cut down their overtime work rates. Other theory in circulation, hinted that the grounding was engineered so as to pressurise bringing in a third B-757 in the hope of sharing in the booty as in the past. Still another theory suggested that the ground engineers, having enjoyed the perks associated with flying duties, were not likely to give it up easily. The sad part is that we are in no position to claim that none of the above is untrue.
There is so much similarity between what is happening in Nepali politics and in RA. The country is almost grounded while the political parties see no point to worry about this. One can only agree with the view of current MD who believes that RA will improve only if overall politics in Nepal does. The current management is seen to be earnest in their desire to bring in the third plane, but no one can guarantee that the next government that follows will not seek vengeance and act accordingly. After all, leasing aircraft is sure to raise interests among the bickering parties, especially as the election appears to be the only honourable way out to undo the constitutional knot that the country is enmeshed in.
Leaving the differences aside, it may not be that difficult for the political parties to support RA in its effort to bring in the third aircraft. It will be superb if they could explicitly guarantee that there will be no witch hunting if the deed is done with the intent of enhancing RA’s image. If not, they could do so covertly, if they find doing this way more acceptable. No one would mind as long as RA management can work fearlessly in order to enhance airlines’ image by improving its reliability so that it is able to stick to published schedule. Keeping RA’s interest should be the highest priority.
It may not be too much to wish that with this little support to the state airline, much bolder and significant concessions will follow in the near future. At the end, keeping the interest of the country should be the top most priority. This will ultimately help untangle the knot and lead to peace, prosperity and social justice in this tiny country.Posted on: 2003-12-24 02:50
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