India: Privatizing the Skies is Big Business

India’s long-awaited airport privatisation contracts on Wednesday triggered strikes by 22,000 airport workers who face job cuts when private operators take over the running of the country’s two biggest airports.

Anita Jain, “India’s airport sell-off triggers strikes,” Financial Times UK, 2/01/06.

“We were expressing our displeasure against the government policies peacefully when the police assaulted us. Several of us, including our women comrades, have been injured.”

Nitin Jadhav, Joint Secretary of the Mumbai Airport Employees' Union.

“We do not want to invoke harsh measures against the employees of Airport Authority of India. We are talking to them to ensure that there is no disruption of air traffic.”

Ajay Prasad, Civil Aviation Secretary.

“Flights delayed, services hit; it’s chaos at airports,” Hindustan Times, 2/01/06.

“All AIF [Indian Air Force] air-traffic controllers and ground-control staff have been told to be on 24-hour standby in case the unions carry out their threat and disrupt civil flight operations. Though Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel has since denied the reports, some officials have been quoted as saying that the government could impose the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) to prevent the disruption of air traffic. If ESMA is enforced, agitating employees can lose their jobs and benefits if they remain on strike.”

Nanda Wickremasinghe and Peter Symonds, “Indian airport workers strike against privatization,” World Socialist Web Site, 2/03/06.

Britain's economy is in turn increasingly dependent on air travel. One third of our visible exports, by value, now go by air. Exports of services, which depend on the ability to travel by air, make up a further eight per cent of our national income. Around 25 million foreign visitors a year contribute to a tourist industry that directly supports more than two million jobs; two thirds of these visitors come by air. Businesses coming to Britain are attracted by our good air links, and airports are a magnet for other forms of development. …Britain's continuing success as a place in which to invest and do business depends crucially on the strength of our international transport links. (2.5)

[The aviation industry] directly supports around 200,000 jobs, and indirectly up to three times as many. …one fifth of all international air passengers in the world are on flights to or from a UK airport. (2.6)

All the evidence suggests that the growth in the popularity and importance of air travel is set to continue over the next 30 years. In 2003 some 200 million passengers will pass through UK airports. Our latest published forecasts suggest that by 2030 this figure could, if sufficient capacity were provided, have risen to between 400 million and 600 million - in other words, these forecasts predict that demand will be between two and three times what it is today. This would imply an average of two return trips a year for each UK resident by 2030, compared to an average of just under one return trip each today. (2.8)

At the local level, for all the benefits they bring, airports can have significant impacts on those living nearby. (2.16)

Aviation is a quintessentially international industry. There are few areas, apart from airport development, in which the UK is free to make policy in isolation from other countries. (4.2)

[In-bound tourism] accounts for an estimated 4.4 per cent of GDP in 2002, and more than two million direct jobs. Outbound tourism … also contributes significantly to the economy through revenue earned by tour operators and the air transport sector. (4.22)

Airports are an important focus for the development of local and regional economies. They attract business and generate employment and open up wider markets. They can provide an important impetus to regeneration and a focus for new commercial and industrial development. (4.24)

Many airports increasingly act as a focal point for ‘clusters’ of business development. By offering the potential for the rapid delivery of products by air freight and convenient access to international markets through the availability of flights for business travel, they can attract inward investment to a region. (4.25)

The Future of Air Transport – White Paper and the Civil Aviation Bill, UK Department for Transport, December 16, 2003.