Air India, which appeared to be shudderingly close to folding up,a year ago, now seems to be soaring along fine,.

The NDA government has claimed that the national carrier Air India has improved its performance and it is making profit for the first time in 10 years.

“Air India’s all-time performance has increased. This year it is making profit, which is the first time in last 10 years. It is making an operative profit. Air India is doing good work,” Civil Aviation Minister Gajpathi Raju asserted.

The government also rejected the perception about the airline being the “leader in emergency landings” and asserted that there has been “zero accident” due to poor maintenance.

“It is unfair to say that Air India is the leader in emergency landings… I do not go into Air India bashing at all. It is unfair to say this,” Raju said while replying to questions in which opposition members voiced concern over emergency landings by the planes of the state carrier.

“During the last two years and the current year, a total of 120 incidents of emergency landing due to medical emergency and technical reasons have been reported to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Out of the 120 incidents, 102 were due to medical emergency and 18 due to technical reasons,” the minister said.

Of the 120 incidents of emergency landing, only 23 are attributed to Air India and the rest to other airlines, he said.

Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajpathi Raju told the Rajya Sabha that every safety procedure is followed in the Air India as “no deficiency” would be allowed.

“We follow every safety procedure for all airlines including Air India. We can’t risk people’s life.,” he said.

  airlines, development