Many an eyebrow has been raised as to why the cash-strapped national carrier SriLankan has planned to shift its commercial division with a staff of 100 to the World Trade Centre (WTC) at an initial cost of Rs.20 million and a monthly rental of Rs.5 million despite such facilities being available at Katunayake.
The airline office will move to the 21st and 22nd floors of the WTC East Tower at Echelons Square in Fort by November but some employees of the national carrier have described this move as uneconomical.
They said that over the years the airline had incurred losses amounting to billions of rupees, and therefore it would be highly unnecessary to effect this change when suitable facilities were available at the Katunayake airport.
Some of the airline offices that were housed at the WTC building were shifted to Katunayake in 2008.
“At a time when we are expected to cut costs, it is difficult to understand why such a plan has been initiated. This can be described as a project being implemented for the convenience of some people.
It is easy for them to be based in Colombo rather than in Katunayake. That appears to be the intention behind this move,” an irate employee said.
The Cabinet has approved an allocation of US$500 million for the development of the national carrier. Employees said whether the new project had been launched to spend those funds without any road map.
However, SriLankan airlines Chief Marketing Officer G.T. Jayaseelan said the project was launched to improve the productivity of employees attached to the commercial division and deal with clients on a real time basis.
He said employees attending to commercial activities should necessarily be based in Colombo to carry out their duties. “If they are based in Katunayake, we have to provide them staff transport facilities. All staff buses leave at 4.30 pm every day from Katunayake. Yet, employees of the commercial division cannot leave by that time because they are supposed to work round the clock. We have clients and agents in different parts of the world. We have to deal with them on a real time basis. We cannot say that no transactions can be done after 4.30 p.m.” Mr. Jayaseelan said.
Also, he said two to three productive hours are normally wasted on roads when employees have to travel to Katunayake on a daily basis.
“We have to improve the productivity of employees,” he said.
Meanwhile, SriLankan airlines said in a recent statement it had greatly reduced its losses and was targeting a return to profitability within two years while driving the transformation of Sri Lanka into a regional hub for Tourism and Aviation.
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