(Representative image)

NEW DELHI: The US has barred Indian carriers from doing self-ground handling at American airports. The US move is believed to be in response to India not allowing US passenger airlines and courier major Fedex’s request to do self-handling at airports here.

Air India is the only Indian carrier that currently flies to the US. The ground handling of AI flights at airports there it flies to like New York JFK, Newark, San Francisco, Washington and Chicago is done by local agencies and not by the Maharaja ’s own staff. “Since we are not doing self ground handling in the US, this particular order of the US department of transportation (DoT) does not affect us in any way,” said a senior official.

AI has over 30 nonstops a week between India and the US and given the scale of operations not having its own ground handling staff and getting it done from local agencies makes more commercial sense for the airline.

The US DoT order dated July 30 says: “The department described the failure of the Indian government to permit US carriers to exercise their bilateral right to perform their own ground handling (to 'self-handle') at Indian airports. Based on this failure, the department has suspended their right to self-handle at US airports.”

Earlier this year India’s security establishment was in a bid over Fedex’s request to do self-handling at airports here. Self-handling means Fedex’s own staff would have screened cargo and then load and unload the same from aircraft of the Memphis-based multinational courier delivery company.

“FedEx wants to do self-handling and, in turn, AI was also offered to be allowed to do sea-handling in the US for its flights. However, for AI this does not make commercial sense and it will continue using the agencies doing the job there,” aviation sources had told TOI when this issue was being deliberated upon by the government this April. Keeping security considerations in mind and the fact that the US disallowing Indian Airlines to do self ground handling at American airports won’t affect AI, the government did not accede to FedEx request for self ground handling at Indian airports.

This US DoT order was for AI and Jet Airways , with the latter now ceasing operations earlier this year. Jet used to fly to Newark till some years back but had stopped that route and Toronto was its only trans-Atlantic sector when the airline folded up this March.

