Air India's flying crew, ground and security staff will soon sport new uniforms designed by fashion designer Manish Malhotra as the Tata Group-owned airline embraces a new global brand identity. As Air India pursues a revival and modernisation plan, the new uniforms are expected to be introduced for the frontline staff by the end of this year and are likely to coincide with the induction of the airline's first wide-body A350 aircraft into its fleet. Malhotra -- whose career spans more than 30 years as a couturier, costume stylist, and entrepreneur -- and his team have started meeting Air India's frontline staff, conducting discussions and fitting sessions with them to better understand their specialised needs, the airline said in a release on Thursday.
Earlier this month, Air India issued show cause notices to the Pilot-in-Command and four crew members of the flight and derostered them pending investigation.
Meir was serving in the 551st Brigade's 697th Battalion. Four soldiers of the battalion, including Meir, were killed in the incident on November 10.
Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla will be the first Indian to travel to the International Space Station (ISS), flying aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft as part of a joint effort between NASA and ISRO. Shukla, a group captain in the Indian Air Force, will serve as the pilot for the Axiom Mission 4, scheduled for launch no earlier than spring 2025. The mission will also carry the first astronauts from Poland and Hungary to stay aboard the ISS.
The pilot fraternity is rallying behind the crew and the captain as they believe that if any action was needed against them, it would have been taken on November 27 or immediately after the incident.
We had to evacuate 25,000 people without pressing panic button: IPL chairman Dhumal
According to the officials, generally, a passenger is not served more than 100 ml of liquor during a flight.
The budget carrier has reported a series of incidents involving engine glitches, mainly in its A320 Neo planes, which has resulted in non-availability of some of such planes for operations.
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).
With the Middle East tensions flaring up, Air India has temporarily suspended its Tel Aviv flights and airlines have charted alternative flight paths to avoid the Iranian airspace.
The Air India and Indian Airlines combine, wearing the new Air India brand and livery, is set to give a snazzy new look for its cabin crew.
Full service carrier Vistara will hike salaries of its pilots and cabin crew by up to 8 per cent from April amid deployment of higher capacities to meet rising travel demand, according to a source. The source also claimed that some 30 pilots have quit the airline in the last six months and are serving notice period after getting job offers mainly from the Gulf carriers. On Thursday, a senior Vistara official confirmed the salary hike for the pilots and cabin crew but denied that 30 pilots have left the airline.
After a passenger jet with 181 people on board burst into flames after veering off the runway and colliding with a wall at an airport in South Korea's Muan County on Sunday, authorities believe all but two onboard are feared to have been killed, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The death toll from a devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake that struck Myanmar has risen to more than 1,000, as rescue workers continue to recover bodies from the ruins of collapsed buildings.
'No doubt such a great human being, so humble and down to earth person.'
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The pilot's decision and professional competence to bring flight AI 144 safely back to Newark Liberty International Airport after an engine fire, saved the lives of 300 passengers and 15 crew members. George Joseph/Rediff.com reports
A cabin crew member found overweight is deemed 'temporarily unfit' and given three months to reduce weight.
The incident which took place on Friday came close on the heels of two mid-air urinating incidents on the international flights of Tata Group-run private carrier Air India late last year.
'After the plane collided with the wall, passengers were thrown out of the aircraft.'
There were nearly 4,000 cabin crew with Jet when the airline was grounded; every fifth remains without a job to date. One cabin crew member with 10 years of experience has been forced to take up a teaching job; some have branched out into small businesses. Aviation jobs were scarce even before the Covid-19 pandemic arrived on Indian shores in early 2020. The situation has been exacerbated since.
Starting November 12, Vistara aircraft will be operated under the Air India banner, to be identified by a special four-digit flight code beginning with "2".
Going ahead with its outsourcing spree, budget carrier Air Deccan on Wednesday tied up with Frankfinn Institute of Airhostesses Training as an exclusive cabin crew partner.
The move follows the recent probe report by the United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) that highlighted safety concerns involving Boeing 737 aircraft equipped with Collins Aerospace SVO-730 Rudder Rollout Guidance Actuators.
Air India has given a two-fold increase in the salaries of its executive (officer grade) cabin crew to Rs 2.25-lakh, with retrospective effect from June 1, 1997. The move is likely to put an additional burden of Rs 170 crore (Rs 1.7 billion) annually at a time when the airlines are making losses due to economic slowdown.
An IndiGo aircraft grazed the wings of an Air India Express plane at the Kolkata airport on Wednesday, leaving the wings of both aircraft damaged, officials said.
Passengers of a San Francisco-bound Air India flight faced a harrowing time due to an inordinate delay and some of them fainted as the aircraft's air-conditioning system was non-functional.
Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu on Thursday said India will need at least 20,000 pilots in the coming years to meet the rising air-travel demand in the country -- one of the world's fastest growing aviation market. Addressing a gathering at the UDAAN Bhawan here following the launch of Electronic Personnel License (EPL) for pilots, the Minister said aviation has always been the backbone of connectivity, economic growth, and technological advancements.
An Air India pilots' grouping has raised fatigue concerns in the wake of flight crew rosters generated using a new rostering tool, saying that extended waiting periods between duty time will jeopardise crew alertness and performance. "Extended waiting periods, occurring before active flight duties, run counter to enhancing crew readiness and, in fact, contribute to the accumulation of fatigue over time," the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) has said. In a letter to Air India head of safety Henry Donohoe last week, IPG said it has been recently observed that the relentless pursuit of operational efficiency and economic gains has led to an unintended overshadowing of the primary intent behind Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) regulations.
OceanGate was meant to explore the wreck of the sunken Titanic, in the Atlantic Ocean off Newfoundland, Canada.
Holding that Air India's conduct appeared to be 'unprofessional', aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday issued notices to the officials and crew of the New York-Delhi flight, asking why action should not be taken against them for 'dereliction' of duty while handling the November 26 'urination' incident.
The pilot of the aircraft informed the ATC about the threat after a 'Bomb in flight' message, written on a tissue paper, was found in the washroom of the plane, they said.
The Pakistan army's Bahawalpur Corps has always had a special significance for India as it keeps an eye on the Jaish e Mohammed, explains Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.
The practice will improve OTP for the airline significantly.
According to the revised policy, guests should not be permitted to drink alcohol unless served by the cabin crew and that the cabin crew be attentive to identifying guests that might be consuming their own alcohol.
The police on Wednesday registered an FIR and formed several teams to nab the accused passenger.
Security agencies went into a tizzy after three international flights originating from Mumbai received bomb threats on Monday with one of them, a New York-bound Air India aircraft, getting diverted to New Delhi as travel plans of some 500 passengers went for a toss.
The decision to award Qatar hosting rights for the 2022 World Cup has been marred by controversy, including allegations of corruption and human rights violations, since it was first announced 12 years ago, ensuring how the host country treats visitors will be heavily scrutinised.
A pilot and the member of a cabin crew were injured when they scuffled with each other mid-air on Air India's flight from Sharjah to Lucknow on Saturday morning.
IndiGo on Wednesday said it was exploring an earlier introduction of wide-body planes in its fleet to meet the growing demand for international travel. Industry sources said the airline was in talks with Norse Atlantic Airways to wet-lease six B787 planes in its fleet.
Akasa Air has asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to exempt it from deploying CAT-III trained pilots on flights to and from two major fog-affected airports, Kolkata and Bengaluru, for specific periods, since there is a shortage of such pilots in its roster.
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