UNI

New Delhi, Apr 25: All legal formalities relating to the merger of government-owned Air India (AI) and Indian will be complete by June and integration of flight schedules could start by winter schedule (October-end).

Both airlines currently fly within a space of hours on many routes in southeast Asia and the Gulf, prompting critics to say that they compete with each other rather than complimenting each other's role.

''In the next winter schedule, the single merged entity will fly to common routes like the Gulf,'' said AI's chairman and managing director Vasudevan Thulasidas. He was talking to reporters on the sidelines of three-day US-India Aviation Partnership Summit here which wound up today.

 Thulasidas said AI and Indian have formed working groups to integrate ranks of manpower over the next 18 months. ''These working groups have already started meeting. The scheme of amalgamation will require approval from the boards.'' The two airlines, which once enjoyed a monopoly, have steadily lost market share to newer private players and have been criticised for their ageing fleets and bloated workforce. With the merger, they plan to take on international and more nimble-footed domestic carriers with a fleet of spanking new aircraft.

AI has signed up for 68 Boeing planes while Indian, formerly known as Indian Airlines, last year ordered 43 new Airbus aircraft.

The government has registered a new company called National Aviation Company Ltd to amalgamate AI and Indian along with their low-fare subsidiaries AI Express and Alliance Air.

''The merged entity will operate like a business venture, rather than a public sector unit,'' said Thulasidas. ''We'll divest some equity stake through initial public offering (IPO) of stock sale. The idea is to bring about a different culture with accountability to stock exchanges.'' He said the first of its brand new Boeing 777-200LR plane will arrive in June to serve Mumbai-New York non-stop. By then, it will also start operating dedicated freighters following the conversion of two of its A310s from passenger configuration.

After that, it will receive one new plane every month as part of the 11 billion dollar order. ''With one brand, one balance sheet and one board of directors, we'll be in a different league.'' AI was founded as a private domestic carrier in 1932 by the Tata group and named Tata Airlines. It was once called ''little jewel'' because of its impeccable service. In 1946, the airline became a public company and was named Air India, with the government taking 49 per cent with an option to buy another two per cent. It is now fully owned by the government.

Blending the names of domestic and international carriers, the merged entity could be called Air Indian, or maybe Indian Air. An official announcement on the decision is expected soon.

Officials say the new airline's logo could be a mix of AI's famed Maharaja and Indian's Konark wheel.

The new airline having about 112 aircraft with both international and domestic footprint will set fresh benchmarks for efficiency and reliability, thus benefiting civil aviation sector in the country -- especially the traveling public.