Editorial: Is privatisation the answer to airport woes?

A recent report carried in this daily highlighted some of the issues including the mosquito menace, which officials attributed to the indoor plants kept in the corridors leading up to the departure terminals. Risk of vector-borne diseases aside, the airport had also been called out last week for the inaccessibility of restrooms for the differently-abled. An activist brought up concerns like the absence of grab rails in the toilets, and the sorry state of hygiene. The crashing glass panels too have been the topic of much debate and derision on social media.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) is currently involved in construction of a new integrated terminal at Chennai airport as part of the second phase of modernisation. But the question lingering in the minds of the public is whether privatisation - as was done with the Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru airports - will make the airport more ‘user-friendly’?

As per the Airports Council International’s Airport Service Quality Survey, Chennai ranked 53 in 2017 and it slipped to 63 in 2018. A big part of the grievances was to do with baggage delivery, flight information boards, WiFi and toilets. In the backdrop of the same, in November last year, the AAI piloted a touchscreen-based grievance redressal mechanism at the airport. But a lot more needs to be done.

In December last year, the AAI had proposed privatisation of as many as six airports including Tiruchy. If the Centre can consider the option of privatising smaller airports, Chennai Airport’s consistently low rankings in nationwide and global surveys makes a case in point for privatisation.

Globally, privatisation of airports reduces the dependency on public sector investment, and with increased funding and professional service providers, it has usually resulted in operational efficiency. The only counter to the move is that passengers end up paying more, thereby resulting in a costlier travel experience.

A possible approach could be to privatise those services that directly improve customers’ experience, while retaining government control over infrastructure. This would go a long way in converting scores of disgruntled passengers into goodwill ambassadors of the beleaguered Chennai airport.