All set to retire, MR Vasudeva, the widely loved and respected Director of Mangalore Airport, shares his thoughts and experiences as the man at the helm, the challenges he faced and pain he had to undergo:
For years you were associated with the airport and now you have reached a stage where you are standing at the threshold of retirement. How did it all begin, this journey in the aviation circle?
In 1975, I was working in Shimla under the Ministry of Labour. I then got selected as the Employment Officer. The UPSC had given a call for posts of 99 aerodrome officers and the basic requirement they asked was a science graduation. I applied and got selected. I then had to undergo a year’s training in aerodrome Air Traffic Control (ATC). I got exposure to various departments be it the approach radar or area control radar. I then happened to get into administration department and subsequently got the post of Airport Director. Unlike the case with personnel today where most of them are specialists of a particular department, I had the opportunity to have a holistic exposure of the entire airport operation. When with the ATC, it is only the aircraft movement that is important for that department’s personnel whereas an Airport Director is technically more associated with the passenger movement. But since I have that background too, it helped me in getting acquainted with everything related to airport operations. As an Airport Director, another key thing is to balance the different departments and make sure that there is smooth running of the process in spite of some conflict of interests existing between them.
You spoke about the different departments. The Customs department’s activities have been in the news for wrong reasons and a lot of NRIs complained of harassment at the airport. How do you see the problem as an airport director?
The customs rules have not changed but I think it is the application of those rules in today’s time that has created the difference. The gold limit for example, which was Rs.20,000 some years ago too, was a very big amount. But today that amount will not fetch you more than four to five grams of gold. The customs perhaps do not want to allow so much of gold from abroad into the country because it disturbs the monetary situation of the country. As regards harassment, yes, maybe there are a few black sheep in customs department too but I feel it is not possible for them to do it rather glaringly. There are CCTV cameras monitoring. This complaint was there in Ahmedabad and other places also. As far as we are concerned, we are in no way connected to their problems. Whenever there is a complaint from the passengers, we forward it to the concerned department. Besides, the customs department has its own grievance cell which accepts complaints from the passengers and now with the RTI also being an option, they have to answer the queries of the passengers.
You are mightily pleased with the airport finally getting the international status. Tell us about the possible routes and airlines that we may get to see operate here in the near future…
Jet Airways wanted to connect Gulf from here. Etihad and Emirates had shown interest in the beginning. Our Airport was not an International Airport then and hence it could not progress. Now that the tag has come, the process is likely to begin again. The concerned airlines will have to submit their plans which have to be sent to the DGCA for approval. It will then be forwarded to the AAI who will finally send it to the concerned destination. But the formal notification of the International status of the airport is yet to be done. Only after the Gazette Notification comes, the airlines in different countries will come to us for approval. But at the moment there is huge demand for air services to Jeddah. People are requesting. They had collected thousands of signatures and submitted it long ago, requesting flight services. Once the formal notification is done, all these things will become easy. Most probably by March 2013, operations are likely to begin.
Other than Gulf sector, which sector do you think will fetch good air traffic for Mangalore?
The potential of Mangalore is basically for Gulf. Kerala has international airports too and we see the same Gulf sector dominance there. Mangalore too is an extension of Kerala in terms of this air traffic. Almost all airports on our coastline, except Goa perhaps, have this Gulf-centred air traffic. Goa, since it has some relationship with Portugal because of its history has good air traffic from that country. But all these other coastal airports are prominently connected to Gulf. Our connection to Gulf also has its own history because since ages trade between Arabs and us was taking place through ports of this coastal belt. One or two airlines may connect Chennai rather frequently to connect to Singapore etc for tourism. Sri Lanka Airlines wanted to operate long ago. But then later there were problems and their aircrafts got destroyed and several other hurdles came in between. There are chances of them thinking about it again now that we have got the tag. I also see the possibility of connecting our people to Nepal as there was a proposal to connect to Kathmandu earlier. If Emirates starts operations here, there are chances of it introducing flights to US and Eurpoean countries providing a link from Dubai as such services are not there in nearby Kerala airports. Education-wise there is good scope as students from Thailand,Philippinesetc are coming to Manipal.
What are your observations about the journey that the airport underwent over a period of time? What else do you think needs to be done?
Well…from Dacota aircraft to Air Bus 310, from 150 acres to 500 odd acres, it has been quite a journey. Another 400 acres are required now and the runway extension has to take place. Different facilities like communication, navigation, radar, etc have already been incorporated. Ours is the best in that sense compared to Cochin and other airports. That way airport is in a much better position. But we needed to come up at a faster pace the way Calicut airport grew like anything in such a small duration. From a small runway and a small terminal which it had once, today you find jumbos operating there. Compared to them, Mangalore still has some way to go. But whatever progress we have achieved is quite substantial. And I see a bright future for it too. The parallel taxiway will come up, new air traffic control technical block is coming up, the air cargo complex will come up, new perimeter road will come up, these will enhance the growth of the airport. We must at least have traffic of more than 18-20 lakh passengers. Number of aircraft movements should be at least 50. Coaches are already operating in the airport and public transport buses have also resumed services. The KSRTC buses are coming up to the airport terminal to drop people from the city. There are three-four buses in the morning and three-four in the evening connecting the city of Mangalore to the airport. A new road is going to be developed by KSRDC. Extension of runway is significant in the sense that we need to have the best of aircrafts operating at our airport because there are a few airports coming up in the vicinity and to be able to have the edge over them in terms of competition, you need to have the required runway to facilitate operations of heavier aircrafts like jumbo. The concept of ‘aerotropolis’ i.e. connecting the airport to different cities and destinations via road and metro, also needs to be worked upon so that we attract more people from nearby places like Udupi, Manipal, Dharmasthala, etc.
Why is that in spite of hailing from Shimoga, you consider coming up of an airport in Shimoga as a hindrance? Why are you so much in favour of Mangalore?
What is the potential of Shimoga? An airport has come up in Mysore. What is the traffic? For Mysoreans, Bangalore is nearer and so is Mangalore. Even one full aircraft cannot operate from Mysore as Bangalore is already there. Similarly, for Shimoga, I don’t see any potential at the moment. But if at all a stage comes where even middle class people would start using air services frequently, then maybe yes. Then it will make sense for every district to have an airport. At that time, yes Shimoga must also have an airport. Or else spending crores of rupees to set up an airport at Shimoga and looking to attract passengers from Mangalore has no meaning. You will only add to your maintainence expenses and there will hardly be any operational profit. Hubli airport remained dormant for years and only now is it coming up.
You were transferred to Coimbatore in 2009 from here. Did you go there knowing that you will come back again? It was also the time when the air crash took place, when you were not in charge here. Could you tell us about the transfer and what was going on in your mind when the crash took place?
Transfers are something that the Department decides. But before leaving Mangalore, I wanted to see the new terminal building come up. When I left Mangalore, the building was ready but there were some more things needed to be done. I had this thing in mind that if I stay a bit longer, I could with the help of my experience and contacts, speed up the process and get it inaugurated. I couldn’t do it and that did upset me a little. Then there was the air crash. I felt as if my heart sank that day. But somehow, the runway waited for me to come back to become operational. I had left on March 23, 2009 I left and came back on July 14, 2010. The runway could have become operational by then. It wasn’t that others were not performing their duty but it was more about my own nature of taking risks and my hunger to get things done. After coming back, I made sure that I shifted the operations to the new terminal on August 2, within just 18 days. It was a risk I took, which not many take. I knew people here and when I insisted that I am shifting to the new terminal come what may, people had to listen. I got the markings on the runway done and painted in no time. Without proper markings, there are chances of aircrafts landing inaccurately which I could not afford to allow. By God’s grace I was able to shift everything by August 2, the day I wanted to shift.
I had delayed my transfer with the intention to get the new terminal building inaugurated with me in charge. I waited for six months but it could not happen. It was a promotional transfer for which it was mandatory for me to go to another place. They don’t give promotion in the same place. I requested them to give me promotion here itself and if not, I said I am happy to delay my promotion/transfer by six months. But the new terminal inauguration could not happen owing to a lot of factors. The aerobridges had not come. I kept waiting and then it reached a stage where my promotion was in danger of complete denial. So I had to go and join. At that time, coming back to Mangalore was not there in the picture at all. As per rules, I had to continue my rest of the service in Coimbatore itself. There were a lot of people mulling for my continuance here in Mangalore too but it was the air crash that became a reason for me to be reinstated back to Mangalore. My Director put me back here knowing that I could handle the affairs better here. The criticism and public outrage was immense. Even on the day of the accident, he called me and told me that I should rush to Mangalore and handle the operations there. He put me as the coordinator. The accident took place at 6 am and I received a call from my Chairman at 8. I came here and stayed here for three days. I could not do anything but I knew the airport, the region, the police and administration well, he asked me to come here. The criticisms revolving around the Mangalore Airport just refused to die down and after a month, he asked me to go back to Mangalore and take charge. We swapped positions (Peter Abraham) and I became the Airport Director here while he took charge in Coimbatore. The tragedy of course was such that it was difficult for Mangalore to come out of it. Even now when we think about it we feel bad that so many people lost their lives because of somebody’s mistake. The AAI was in no way responsible for the tragedy. But there were unnecessary criticisms about the runway and the table top structure etc. To keep answering these queries it took me two years. It did hamper our productive work in the sense that all our time was being wasted on clearing these misconceptions about the airport.
What are your post-retirement plans?
I have been taking part in various activities like Chess tournaments and social functions and will continue doing it. I cannot sit at home idle so I will have to keep myself occupied. I am a chess player. When I was working in Shimla, I had obtained No.2 position in YMCA chess tourneys. Even Airports Authority of India (AAI) used to conduct chess tournaments and I had won the second place in the All India chess tourney that they organized. For South India level, I was the champion.
But I will continue to be associated with the Airport in some way or the other. I have already been told by my Chairman to continue here as a ‘consultant’. I will go there and give my suggestions and help to the Airport Director whenever I am asked to. If they don’t I will go there sit and come (laughs). Besides, I have got offers in the teaching line. I can offer services as a teacher in subjects like aviation, engineering, statistics, management etc. I am an MBA in marketing. So I can offer my services that way. But I would prefer to stay in Mangalore.
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