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D. C. Amariwala, manager (Oman) of Air-India Express, a veteran airline industry official, who has completed nearly 35 years (34.5 years) with Air-India and around three years, six months in Oman, left for his home country yesterday. Amariwala, will also be retiring from Air-India on May 31, this year, after working nearly a lifetime (35 years) with it.

In his over three decades career, Amariwala, who joined Air-India in 1971, he has seen it and done it all, as the parlance goes. And while the airline industry will miss this veteran, here in Oman, for the passengers, it will be a sure loss, for Amariwala created a climate of hope and brought in a host of travel chances for the beleaguered passenger, for whom most often travelling to his/her hometown was a near impossibility. He was instrumental in providing a host of discounts and successful low fare schemes in an environment totally opposed to such ventures. Yet, the fact that he overcame the odds, notching on the way several unique credits, which includes, starting an Air-India flight from Salalah to Kozhikode, then beginning Air-India Express and then more importantly, successfully establishing Air-India within the last one year here. “I feel that these were all real achievements in spite of the challenging circumstances that I underwent.

“Even when I started out here as A-I manager, I had a great challenge before me: Our schedule was not passenger-friendly, but our behaviour was. And despite all challenges, we managed to get good revenue, and we competed well.

“Whatever the circumstances, our policy remained in that we were customer and agent friendly. We really looked after the customers well; we gave them what they wanted. And on the social/humanitarian front also, we made active contributions.

“I must say that we, Air-India/A-I Express really understood what the passenger wanted. Many of them do not have the means to travel back home, and in such a scenario, we were left with no alternative but to help them by lowering the fares. When we did special promotions, they responded with alacrity and amazing numbers. So, our existence here was a good balance of profit-making with a distinct element of compassion and acceding to customer needs.”

Amariwala agreed that the fares were currently high and chances of it coming down were slim. But, he said that the passenger needs should not be ignored just because the airlines were trying to reduce costs. Asked if A-I Express was a panacea to all these fare problems, at least to the Indian sector, Amariwala said it was definitely an alternative. “You can buy an AI Express ticket through the net, directly from our office, or through select agents. However, those that are not promoting us are actually misguiding passengers by telling them that we are closed or have cancelled our flights, etc. Yet, despite this campaign, we still get a good load.”

Amariwala also noted that A-I Express has even brought in a change in the leave/vacation policies of some companies. “Today, companies don’t have to bother about their Indian staff going on an extended holiday/vacation. Earlier they would go for more than 60 days in two years because their tickets were given only then. Now, since some of these companies use A-I Express tickets, they are able to send their staff in a year’s time.”

Amariwala also noted that ever since A-I Express de-linked from Abu Dhabi, their load factor has gone from 25 per cent to 95 (plus) per cent.

One parting message for the passengers was to control their baggage, the airline official said. “Why do you need to carry so many items home? Today, India is ‘shining’. Everything is available there, so why should we even think of lugging all these items back to India?”