New Delhi: Gurgaon-based airline firm SpiceJet Ltd’s chief financial officer Parth Sarathi Basu has quit the airline after serving it for over a year and half.
Low-fare carrier SpiceJet holds nearly 10% of the domestic market by passenger share and raised nearly $80 million (Rs404 crore today) from US-based private equity fund WL Ross and Co. Llc. in July.
The CFO’s exit comes amid a challenging environment for the airline, given that it posted a loss of nearly Rs198 crore in the second quarter of the fiscal and has already seen its chief executive officer (CEO) Sidhantha Sharma quit in July. Basu is likely to rejoin Whirlpool of India Ltd, where he worked before joining SpiceJet. The firm has appointed US-based Sanjay Aggarwal as the new CEO who took over his new role on Monday.
—Tarun Shukla
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Zero commission: Left backs agents’ cause
New Delhi: Almost three weeks after 15 airlines including National Aviation Co. of India Ltd, Jet Airways (India) Ltd and Kingfisher Airlines Ltd abolished the 5% commission they paid to travel agents for selling their air tickets for decades, the Iata agents association of India, or IAAI, are roping in the support of politicians such as Brinda Karat, a politbureau member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and M.K. Pandhe, president, Centre of Indian Trade Unions to take their cause to Parliament. Iata stands for International Air Transport Association, a global travel industry grouping.
“Since 1 November, (our) international business has dropped by 15% and domestic by 25%,” said Biji Eapen, president of IAAI, which says it has membership of some 780 among over 2,800-Iata accredited agents.
At a meeting held by the travel agents, Karat, while strongly protesting the lack of concern showed by the government to the plight of the agents, said, “We demand that the government put a stay on the circular of 1 November and take into account different aspects of the issue, ensuring the percentage of commission is protected if not enhanced.”
—Staff Writer
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Vedanta arm to stop mining in Kolli Hills
Mumbai: Madras Aluminium Co. Ltd, or Malco, a subsidiary of UK-based Vedanta Resources Plc. on Thursday took an undertaking before the Madras high court that it would stop with immediate effect its bauxite mining operations in the Kolli Hills in Salem district in Tamil Nadu, said Piyush Sethia, who heads a local voluntary organization called ‘Speak Out Salem’, in a statement on Thursday. Sethia had earlier this year filed a petition in the court alleging violation of environment norms by Malco since 2002.