Describing their situation akin to "bonded labour", two Air India pilot unions extended their support to Vistara pilots on Thursday, who have raised grievances regarding the duty roster and the revised salary structure. Amid the slew of flight cancellations and delays, Vistara chief executive officer Vinod Kannan acknowledged on Wednesday that pilot utilisation in the airline was high, and announced plans to scale back its flight schedule and overhaul the rostering system to provide pilots with more rest time.
High pilot utilisation, combined with a portion of pilots taking sick leave at the end of March has resulted in the cancellations during the last couple of days, chief executive officer (CEO) of Vistara, Vinod Kannan, said during a meeting with the pilots on Wednesday.
The spot airfares on major routes, where Vistara cancelled flights on Tuesday, have surged by up to 38 per cent, according to data provided by Cleartrip. The spot airfares for Tuesday were compared with March 5. Vistara has cancelled 52 flights on routes such as Delhi-Indore, Delhi-Srinagar, Mumbai-Kochi, and Bengaluru-Udaipur as a certain section of pilots went on sick leave, reportedly protesting against the new salary structure that was introduced as part of the airline's merger with Air India.
A Rs 7,056 crore outer harbour project by VO Chidambaranar (VOC) Port in Tuticorin is garnering interest from domestic and global majors in the sector, such as Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, Singapore's PSA International, Dutch major Van Oord, JM Baxi, and JSW, among others, according to sources close to the development. The project aims to capitalise on the newfound investor interest in the region, spurred by mega investments such as the Rs 16,000 crore electric vehicle manufacturing unit by Vietnamese major VinFast, the Indian Space Research Organisation's second spaceport in Tamil Nadu's Kulasekarapattinam, and Singapore's Sembcorp's Rs 36,238 crore investment in renewable energy.
'During the scorching summer months of election season, largescale outdoor gatherings create a prime opportunity for increased consumption in the packaged drinking water category.'
'The ministry may like to consider setting up an ombudsman similar to electricity ombudsman and insurance ombudsman, to ensure a time-bound resolution of consumer issues within the airline sector.'
Volkswagen Passenger Cars is targeting a volume sales growth of about 15 per cent in the country in 2024, even as it expects the Indian passenger vehicle (PV) industry to grow by 5-7 per cent in the current year, its India brand director, Ashish Gupta, said on Thursday. This means the company is expecting to grow 2-3 times faster than the Indian PV industry in 2024. But globally, the German automaker is expecting just 3 per cent rise in sales this year, down from 12 per cent last year.
A group of 91 retired bureaucrats has appealed to the Centre to withdraw the Green Credits programme, which they claimed may facilitate diversion of forest land to private entities. "Quick, smooth and easy diversion of our forest lands in favour of user agencies is apparently the sole intention of this set of Green Credits rules. "We urge the MOEFCC to recognise this danger and withdraw the Green Credits notification expeditiously," the group of former civil servants wrote in an open letter to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
Manufacturers of electric vehicles (EVs) have been lukewarm to the ad hoc subsidy scheme announced by the Centre for them. Sector majors have not been enthused by the lower level of incentives in the scheme, which has replaced the flagship Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric (and Hybrid) Vehicles-II. Moreover, increased stringency in claiming subsidies and delays in disbursement have been cited by several original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).
Tata Motors will soon submit a detailed report on the upcoming manufacturing plant in Tamil Nadu's Ranipet district and a decision, on whether the facility will churn out passenger or commercial vehicles, will be taken by the company on the basis of market trends, state's industries minister TRB Rajaa said on Thursday. "They are keeping the options open, and market trends will determine it (the type of vehicles the plant will make). "They will quickly come up with a detailed report on that," Rajaa said.
Over the past eight months, a team of 80 people has been diligently working to harmonise operating procedures across four airlines run by the Tata group, as part of two mergers, revealed Campbell Wilson, Air India's chief executive officer (CEO), on Friday. The Tata group is consolidating its aviation business by merging four airlines into two: Air India and Vistara are merging to form a single full-service carrier, while AIX Connect and Air India Express are combining to create a unified low-cost carrier (as a subsidiary of Air India).
Political pundits unanimously suggest that the state is not experiencing a discernible Gandhi wave this time around.
The flight cancellations and delays of Vistara in the last few days were due to unfavourable weather, air traffic congestion and unforeseen aircraft maintenance, and cannot be solely attributed to pilot absenteeism, the airline said on Thursday. The airline's response comes after reports stated that some pilots had gone on sick leave to protest the new salary structure offered to them as part of Vistara's merger with Air India. "We confirm that we have had a few flight cancellations and unavoidable delays in the last few days.
More than half a dozen private-sector banks are awaiting regulatory approval for the appointment of a second whole-time director on their boards.
Hero MotoCorp, India's largest two-wheeler maker, has seen a decline in its market share in rural areas since 2018, losing ground to major competitors such as TVS Motor Company, Bajaj Auto, and Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI), according to data from JATO Dynamics reviewed by Business Standard. Hero's share of rural two-wheeler sales in India has dropped from 40.4 per cent in 2018 to 33.3 per cent in 2023. In contrast, Bajaj's share increased from 12.7 per cent in 2018 to 13.9 per cent, HMSI's from 21.8 per cent to 22.2 per cent, and TVS' from 15.5 per cent to 17.8 per cent. Suzuki Motorcycle India has also seen its share rise from 1.7 per cent to 2.5 per cent.
Vietnam-based electric vehicle maker VinFast, a rival of Tesla in the global market, has set foot in India and began work on building its Rs 16,000 crore EV manufacturing facility at Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu. The company has already sought a reduction in import duties on its cars for about two years until customers get familiar with the brand and its unit in the state. The global major kicked off the construction of the first phase of its integrated EV hub, which may see Rs 4,000 crore of investment initially and will create more than 10,000 jobs.
Airfares have nearly doubled in a matter of days on routes hit by the cancellation of 200 weekly flights linking Mumbai airport to 12 cities. The fares have soared as high as 193 per cent following a recent government order to cancel flights to ease "persistent congestion" that was causing delays. Aside from the reduction in flights on 12 routes, two destinations - Hubli and Jabalpur - have lost connectivity with Mumbai since last week, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium's data reviewed
To expedite mining activities in the country and address shortcomings in the mine auction process, the Centre has proposed the introduction of intermediary timelines for acquiring mining leases and composite licences. The government has outlined timelines for various activities involved in the process, accompanied by penalties for delays attributable to the bidder. According to the Ministry of Mines notification dated February 9, the penalty for surpassing specified timelines in any activity within a milestone would lead to deductions from the performance security deposited by the bidder.
It has been seven months since the iconic motorcycle manufacturers, Harley-Davidson and Triumph, embarked on their journey in India with the backing of partners Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj Auto. According to data shared by the Indian majors, both brands are already creating ripples in the above 350cc category. The increase in sales has prompted a ramp-up in production and even the doubling of retail touchpoints for one of them.
The on-time performance (OTP) of Indian carriers took a major dip in January as dense fog foiled their flight schedules. According to data from the Ministry of Civil Aviation reviewed by Business Standard, five out of six major Indian carriers - IndiGo, Air India, AIX Connect, Akasa Air, and Vistara - recorded their lowest OTPs in at least the last 11 months. In response to queries, an Air India spokesperson said that during this winter, northern India experienced unusually prolonged periods of dense fog affecting traffic at the airline's two largest hubs -- Delhi and Mumbai.
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