The decision to make all general aviation operators to compulsorily use handling services provided by SAPL was perceived as being unfair because many of the operators are quite capable of handling their flights themselves, and indeed, have been doing so for long

The term fixed base operator (FBO) originated in the US when in 1926, the Air Commerce Act made a distinction between travelling support teams who moved with adventurous post-World War I pilots through their barnstorming jaunts, and organised service providers who had their feet on the ground at one airport (and were thus “fixed”). Since then the concept has been refined and FAA defines it as “a commercial business granted the right by the airport sponsor to operate on an airport and provide aeronautical services such as fuelling, hangaring, tie-down and parking, aircraft rental, aircraft maintenance, flight instruction, etc.” The concept relates to general aviation as airlines have their own organisations to provide these services. The US has 5,245 listed FBOs.

In India, the term FBO tends to be used loosely. It is common to see small, single service providers and handlers referred to as FBOs. Thus any service provider in the areas of passenger and/or cargo handling, refuelling, ground handling, engineering support, flight clearances, customs and immigration facilitation, etc, at a particular airport could be called an FBO—even if the service provided was just one of the above. The term is also used to denote a single omnibus agency providing ground handling, engineering (including refuelling) support, and handling of the flight through customs, immigration and security formalities with the departing passenger’s hand being held through his transit from the landside to the airside and up to the aircraft door (and through the reverse path on arrival). Thus when in June 2010, it was announced that Shaurya Aeronautics Private Limited (SAPL) was being designated as the FBO for the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) Terminal in Delhi for general aviation, the apprehension amongst general aviation operators was that they would be coerced into taking engineering, ground handling and passenger handling services from SAPL. However, there was strong resistance to the idea of total abdication to SAPL, and the final dispensation in place is that SAPL only does the handling—leaving engineering and ground handling options to the client.