To that end, it has tied up with Air India to implement parts of the strategy before its October launch. It is understood that Air India is to manage the ground handling and engineering requirements for Tata-SIA.
Regular readers will know that outsourcing is something of a legal minefield when it comes to the Indian aviation sector and the courts have hosted more than a few disputed cases. In short, many attempts at joint ventures have been made over the last two decades and all but a handful have failed. Tata-SIA's proposals will establish a something of a precedent in India, where most airlines use their own staff to perform engineering checks on their fleet and for ground handling functions.
Air India Engineering Services, a subsidiary of the national airline, will provide engineering services to Tata-SIA whilst staff from Air India SATS Airport Service are expected to perform the requisite ground handling duties at major airports; in turn, Air India Air Transport Services will look after ground handling at non-metropolitan airports.
