The civil aviation ministry has started the process of appointing an Ombudsman to look into the complaints of consumers and give binding orders for Air India. The Union civil aviation minister has asked for an Ombudsman to look into the complaints of people against wings under the ministry like Air India, Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Airports Authority of India and Pawan Hans.
There is a practice of appointment of ombudsman in some of the ministries and departments in the government of India and crucial consumer-facing sectors such as banking and electricity have ombudsmen, but the proposal for an aviation ombudsman has remained on paper for the past four years. The aviation ministry despite several meetings of private airline CEOs and airports in the past four years has been unable to frame an ombudsman.
The aviation Ombudsman for Air India will be on the same lines followed by the Electricity, Banking, Income Tax and Insurance sectors. The ministry of aviation could later extend the Ombudsman for private airlines and airports who have opposed the idea so far. The steps were taken following a recent collision between a SpiceJet Boeing that was rolling for take-off with 140 passengers on board and hit a buffalo on the runaway of Surat airport in Gujarat.