Air India will be saving $150 million over 15 years by mounting advanced General Electric engines GE90-115B on its 27 Boeing 777-300ERs aircraft.
Air India has positioned its fares on par with airlines offering one-stop services to US.
Vishwas Kumar Ramesh, the sole survivor of the June 12 Air India plane crash, is seeking psychiatric help to cope with the trauma of the event and the loss of his brother.
Air India's 125-aircraft fleet includes brand new Boeing and Airbus planes including B777, A321, A320 and A319.
An Air India flight bound for New York returned to Mumbai on Monday morning after a bomb threat was reported. The aircraft, carrying 303 passengers, was thoroughly checked by security agencies, and nothing suspicious was found. The flight has been rescheduled to operate at 5 am on Tuesday, and passengers have been offered hotel accommodation and other assistance. This incident follows a recent trend of hoax bomb threats on flights, with at least 15 flights receiving such threats this year.
Authorities have so far identified 31 victims of the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad through DNA testing and 12 families have claimed the mortal remains till now, an official said on Sunday.
The US Federal Aviation Authority has approved Boeing's plan to fix the battery-fire problem in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet.
An Air India Dreamliner, flying non-stop from Sydney to Delhi, with 215 people on board, on Wednesday landed in Kuala Lumpur under emergency conditions after its cockpit panels suffered a software malfunction.
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With the launch of these services, Air India would become the first airline to operate the new Boeing-787 Dreamliner to the Australian continent, a spokesperson said.
'Visualise those 15 to 18 seconds: Fully loaded aircraft, pilot manually controlling with both hands (no autopilot immediately after takeoff), looking forward while switches are behind.'
'In multi-pilot operations, no critical switch can be moved without the other pilot's consent.'
In one of the frames of the chilling video, a woman is seen trying to climb down from the balcony with the support of mere railings with huge flames emanating from the crash site just metres away.
By Friday, two of these Boeing 787 Dreamliner planes would be test-flown several times daily between Delhi and Amritsar so that the pilots and cabin crew get the experience of several landings and take-offs.
But sources said the airline had already executed a sale and leaseback agreement for old aircraft, adding, "Air India is also looking at similar agreements for brand new aircraft."
Price appreciation since the aircraft order in 2005 could yield Rs 7,200-crore gain.
The order, valued at 'nearly $9 billion at list prices', was signed at Dubai Air Show 2021 on Tuesday.
Falling jet fuel prices and a revival in domestic traffic growth offer the new CMD a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Why not stream all the data in real time to multiple recipients? It would make the investigation of aviation incidents much easier and far more transparent, recommends Devangshu Datta.
'If major components of any dead body from which you can retrieve DNA is available, that is enough.'
Tata Group-owned Air India has informed the Centre that aircraft lessors wish to set up their special purpose vehicles (SPVs) outside India since they aren't enthused about the Indian 'legal structure' and are loath to take risks. Indian airlines have a combined fleet of about 700 planes; over 85 per cent are on lease. A majority of lessors are based in Ireland due to its attractive tax policy, light-touch regulations, and swift legal system.
In March 2020, soon after the cessation of airline operations globally and domestic flights within India, many in the aviation sector had written Delhi-headquartered low-fare airline SpiceJet's obituary well before that of most of its rivals. Unlike IndiGo, GoAir (now rechristened Go First), Vistara and even AirAsia India, SpiceJet did not have founders or backers with deep pockets. Although it is the only other listed carrier in India besides IndiGo, it was considered the weakest and the least likely to survive the pandemic. But chairman and managing director Ajay Singh surprised everyone by not only surviving but taking the lead on many fronts. Within a few weeks of the scheduled flight stoppage, SpiceJet was doing as many charter flights as it could get hold of.
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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
Air India plans to launch services with three flights per week.
The first flight will take off at 0800 IST while the second jet will fly to the Cypriot capital at 1000 IST and both aircraft will return the same day.
The last date to submit bids is March 17 but the deadline could be extended if there are requests from potential bidders.
The tragic incident saw 241 of the 242 lives on board the London-bound Boeing 787-8 perish, along with 29 people on the ground as the aircraft plunged into a medical college campus shortly after takeoff.
The company has dismissed 194 cabin crew and 11 pilots over past year for unauthorised absence and such reasons.
'In 50 seconds, the pilots were fighting drag, trying relight, throttling up and avoiding obstacles.' 'They had neither height nor speed. There was no margin.'
'This (crash) is one of those times where there is no concrete explanation yet for what happened. I think that adds to my parents' worry.'
A selfie taken by Dr Prateek Joshi onboard the flight, showing the smiling family, has gone viral, capturing their excitement for the journey ahead.
Pilots typically operate the fuel control switches during two key phases: At engine start-up on the ground and during engine shutdown after landing.
The trails of mega-mergers, tailwinds of expanding fleets, flights and airports will dot the fast-growing Indian aviation firmament in 2025, though the dark clouds of supply chain woes will persist longer. Also, new airline takeoffs, the future trajectory of revised norms to tackle pilot fatigue and efforts to reduce carbon emissions will be on the radar.
Insurance companies are processing a surge of claims related to the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad, including travel, personal accident, and life insurance claims.
The claims will include three kinds of liabilities: Damage to the aircraft; loss of lives who were aboard the aircraft; including the crew members; and third-party liability because of loss of lives where the aircraft crashed; and cargo liability.
'Look at the number of flights the aircraft has done. Look at the number of airlines which are using it.'
Apart from the Adani group, the Tata group, the Hinduja group, Indigo and a New York-based fund, Interups, are expected to submit EoIs.
A K Chopra, a retired DGCA official, had flagged concerns regarding engineering, flight safety, operations, and training standards in the airline and subsidiaries, thus warning the management of grave safety risk. He also called for the replacement of the chief of flight safety Harpreet A De Singh, who, he said, did not meet the regulatory requirements for holding the post.
According to the officials, generally, a passenger is not served more than 100 ml of liquor during a flight.
A local who resides near the AI-171 crash site said that people rescued injured students from the BJ Medical College. He added that people were alive when they rescued them, but two died on their way to the hospital.
The embassy observations are part of a confidential official cable released by whistleblower website WikiLeaks on August 30.
