NEW DELHI: In a U-turn, the civil aviation ministry Thursday put on hold its directive for airlines to offer at least 60% seats free of charge. Under intense cost side pressure since the Iran war began, airlines had warned this move to curb ancillary revenue will lead to additional fare hikes.The aviation ministry had on March 17 ordered the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to enact rules mandating the same. Following that, the regulator had amended existing rules to implement at least 60% free seating from April 20.On Thursday, the ministry again wrote to DGCA asking it to keep its earlier order in abeyance. “The matter has been reviewed in light of representations received from the Federation of Indian Airlines (IndiGo, Air India group and SpiceJet) and Akasa Air, highlighting operational and commercial implications of the above provision, including its potential impact on fare structures and consistency with the prevailing deregulated tariff regime,” it said referring to the lobbying by the carriers.“….it has been decided that the provision relating to offering at least 60% of seats free of charge shall be kept in abeyance till further orders,” the order said.However, the Thursday order reiterated that “DGCA may, however, ensure continued enforcement of other passenger facilitation measures… including transparency in seat allocation, co-seating of passengers on the same PNR, carriage of musical instruments, sports equipment & pets and clear disclosure of applicable charges.”Airline said that paid seat selection is an ‘opt-in’ service designed for passengers who prioritise specific preferences. “Free seats create a cross-subsidy, where costs of ‘free’ seats are indirectly absorbed by other value conscious customers. Also, seat selection would be counterproductive for families or elderly passengers as all good seats would be allocated by passengers booking first hence leaving a low number of seats available for such people,” an industry executive said.
