The union government would consider the civil aviation ministry's proposal to defer new ground handling policy by six months. The policy is aimed to allow handling of passengers, ramp and aircraft by air port operators instead of private carriers. The air port operators are proposed to offer these services through a specialized agency. State-owned National Aviation Company Ltd (Nacil) and Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS) can be selected for such services at various Indian airports. The policy is scheduled to be effective from January.

An official at civil aviation ministry said, "We have to give a little more time before the policy is implemented. There are several reasons: First, the Air India joint venture for ground handling has not got government approval yet; two, the Airports Authority of India JV for ground handling has also not been finalized yet. Moreover, this is a transition phase for airlines and we don't want to compound their problems. Issues like job losses also have to be looked into."

The Aviation ministry wants to defer ground handling policy following stiff opposition by private air lines and fears of large scale retrenchments. Air lines have threaded to start agitation in Mumbai on Tuesday against the policy. The employee union of National Aviation Company Ltd has also has pledged to support air lines and opposed the proposed Air India-SATS joint venture.

The union said that government is paving a way for retrenchment of 8,000 workers of private air lines engaged in ground handling work at various airports. However, union civil aviation minister, Minister Praful Patel said, "Even the proposals for joint ventures by Air India with the Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS) are not through as yet from government side."