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Air-India gets ISO 9002 certification

Air-India was presented the ISO-9002 certification for its ground services by J Venkataraman, additional director general, Bureau of Indian Standards, at a function held in Bombay on May 12.

The certificate was received on behalf of Air-India by M P Mascarenchas, managing director. The international carrier is thus amongst the few airlines in Asia to have the distinction of acquiring the International Oganisation of Standardisation or ISO 9002 certiication.

Venkataraman congratulated Air-India on behalf of the Bureau of Indian Standards for the notable achievement. The key word today, he stated, is quality. Quality is influencing the customer's choice more than any other factor. In fact, quality is more relevant in the service sector, he added.

Mascarenhas informed the gathering that this was a proud moment for Air-India. Fifteen months ago, Air-India's engineering department had acquired ISO 9002 accreditation for the critical role it played in maintenance of the airline's fleet.

Two more departments -- engine overhaul and inflight service -- would also shortly acquire the certification.

Air-India would then be the only public sector undertaking in the country with four ISO certification. In 1993-94, the ground services department, he stated, earned a revenue of just over Rs 1 billion constituting 66 per cent of the airline's total non-operating revenues.

In the last five years, the department's revenues had grown to approximately Rs 2.3 billion, that is about 79 per cent of the airline's total non-operating revenues.

R Satish, director, ground services, spoke of how the certifications had been acquired. A goal of one year had been set, he said. Everyone in the department had worked as a team to ensure that the certification was acquired in time.

The certification, a citation of excellence and a guarantee of performance, will enable India's international carrier to use it as one of the major strengths for selling its ground handling services to other airlines. Internally, the functioning of the department will become more effective since critical bottlenecks would be eliminated.

UNI

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