'India's security challenges are no longer confined to the Line of Control or the Line of Actual Control.'
'They also span cyber networks, economic systems, information warfare, technology ecosystems, maritime routes, and internal social cohesion.'
Enormous debt isn't the only thing afflicting Air India. Its work culture is an equal culprit in its downfall.
This is a setback for the divestment process of Air India as no other Indian airline has the capability to fund the process
Normally, Air India operates five weekly flights to Tel Aviv from the national capital. The service is on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.
The average number of flights the Air India group, including subsidiaries Alliance Air and Air India Express, operates daily is 674.
Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha emphasised that the brand name has both sentimental and economical value.
The Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) has announced changes in flight routes for Karachi and Lahore, citing operational safety reasons. The move is speculated to be linked to anticipated military exercises by India.
The airline is also looking at cities in the northeast.
For the first time in 13 years, since Jet Airways' A330 planes exited the airline's fleet in around 2010, an Indian wide-body aircraft will have a Rolls-Royce-powered engine, with Air India ordering 40 Airbus A350 planes. On Tuesday, Air India announced its mega aircraft order for 470 aircraft, including A350 planes. The A350 aircraft, which will come in two variants, are powered solely by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines and the local team has begun work to assist Air India with its aircraft-induction plans.
"Financial bids for Air India disinvestment received by Transaction Adviser. Process now moves to concluding stage," DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey tweeted.
Flight bookings for Halwara airport in Punjab are scheduled to begin in April, with the first commercial flight expected between May 10 and 15. The airport's opening is anticipated to significantly enhance air connectivity and boost economic growth in the region.
Air India, IndiGo, and SpiceJet have suspended flights to China and Hong Kong.
A pilots' union of Air India on Wednesday sought the response of the airline management on various issues, including alleged violation of the roster system and career progression policy. The Indian Commercial Pilots' Association (ICPA) also said that if there is no response in three days, it will be constrained to seek appropriate remedies in accordance with applicable law. In its letter on Wednesday, the grouping said, "we understand the management of Air India is contemplating certain changes to the conditions of service of the pilots".
A pilots' grouping of Tata group-owned Air India has approached the labour department to initiate conciliation proceedings with the airline's management to sort out various issues, including concerns over possible changes in service conditions of its members. The Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), which claims to represent around 900 pilots flying narrow-body planes of Air India, has written to the Chief Labour Commissioner (CLC) as well as Deputy CLC and Assistant Labour Commissioner in New Delhi earlier this week. Apart from service condition issues, the association has flagged that the airline's plans to hire captains for its A320 fleet on a fixed-term contract may result in an anomalous situation for the existing pilots at Air India.
Two pilot unions at Air India have claimed that there is a shortage of pilots to operate the airline's long-haul and ultra-long haul flights. The concerns raised by the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) and Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) also come against the backdrop of the Tatas-owned airline recently cancelling and rescheduling certain flights to and from the North American region due to crew shortage. In a joint letter written to Air India's chief human resources officer Suresh Dutt Tripathi on December 13, the unions said, "...we cannot maintain the printed planned roster due to a shortage of pilots, as CMS (crew management system) does not have standby pilots."
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.
Records stretching back to 1947 suggest a consistent strategy by Pakistan's military and intelligence apparatus, the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), of using terrorism as a state policy against India.
Tata Sons has started the process of due diligence of state-owned Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express. Sources said the group has appointed Bain and Company and Seabury Group for this purpose. Once complete, a financial bid will be submitted and a deal to take over the airline is likely to fructify by end of this year or even earlier, people involved in the process said. Simultaneously, the group has brought in veterans in the aviation business from Delta and United Airlines to prepare a plan for post-merger integration of Air India with its existing airline ventures. Tata Sons operates Vistara - a 51:49 percent joint venture with Singapore Airlines and Air Asia India, in which Tatas hold 83.67 per cent stakes.
The government on Monday signed the share purchase agreement with Tata Sons for the sale of national carrier Air India for Rs 18,000 crore. Earlier this month, the government had accepted an offer by Talace Pvt Ltd, a unit of the holding company of the salt-to-software conglomerate, to pay Rs 2,700 crore cash and take over Rs 15,300 crore of the airline's debt. Following that, on October 11 a Letter of Intenet (LoI) was issued to the Tata Group confirming the government's willingness to sell its 100 per cent stake in the airline.
Akasa Air's standalone net loss rose 18.7 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to roughly Rs 1,983 crore in 2024-25 (FY25), driven by rising employee costs, aircraft maintenance and airport charges, and a sharp increase in foreign exchange (forex) expenses, sources privy to the development told Business Standard.
The government on Thursday claimed that the losses of Air India were coming down and admitted that there were "some issues" which were affecting the process of its merger.
Tata Group's takeover of loss-making national carrier Air India is most likely delayed by a month till January as the completion of procedures taking longer than expected, an official said on Monday. In October, the government accepted the highest bid made by a Tata Sons company for 100 per cent equity shares of Air India and Air India Express along with its 50 per cent stake in ground-handling company AISATS -- the first privatisation in 20 years. At that time, the government had stated that it wanted to complete the transactions, which included Tatas paying Rs 2,700 crore in cash, by December end.
The International Cricket Council confirmed that stranded players from the South Africa national cricket team and West Indies cricket team have finally left India after Gulf airspace closures during the West Asia conflict disrupted travel following the ICC Men's T20 World Cup.
At present, there is no direct air connectivity between India and Myanmar.
The Bharatiya Janata Party attacked Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel for his alleged role in valuations of Indian Premier League bids, saying the minister could not value Air India or Indian Airlines but wants to play a consultant's role in T20 cricket tournament.
India's first escalator, its shortest elevator, a terror attack, a rescue operation -- the building's seen a lot.
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.
The industry is hoping the Tatas deepen their dive and offer two stable airlines -- a Vistara merged into Air India servicing the international routes, and an AirAsia India merged with Air India Express that competes with the low fare airlines in India and offers destinations within five hours, says Anjuli Bhargava.
That such a deal can be greeted with celebration in the camps of both buyer and seller speaks volumes about the airline and its recent history, explains T N Ninan.
The Tata group has begun its second innings with Air India from a war zone. Being first up in Operation Ganga to evacuate Indian nationals from Ukraine, the salt-to-software conglomerate has faced a real war. But the fire-fighting that the group experienced in appointing a chief executive officer (CEO) for the airline that it acquired from the government in a Rs 18,000-crore deal recently may have felt no less.
The DGCA has asked airlines to inspect the fuel switch locking system in their Boeing 787 and 737 planes after a preliminary probe report into the Air India crash found that the switches were cut off before the accident.
A joint forum of Air India unions on Friday sought the labour department's 'urgent' intervention and initiation of conciliation proceedings in the matter of their passage policy and service conditions. On December 24, the forum comprising IPG, ACEU, AIEU and AICCA, in its demand notice to Air India managing director and chief executive officer Campbell Wilson, had protested against the changes in their service conditions. Tata Group took control of the then government-led Air India in January this year.
Air India has finalised an order for around 250 aircraft with Airbus and the deal is expected to be announced next week, a source said on Thursday. The source in the know also said the airline has signed a deal with Boeing for about 200 planes. Specific details could not be immediately ascertained and there was no immediate comments from Air India about the deals.
The government on Monday issued a letter of intent (LoI) confirming the sale of its 100 per cent stake in loss-making Air India to Tata Group for Rs 18,000 crore, a senior official said. Last week, the government had accepted an offer by Talace Pvt Ltd, a unit of the holding company of salt-to-software conglomerate, to pay Rs 2,700 crore in cash and takeover Rs 15,300 crore of the airline's debt. Subsequent to that, an LoI has now been issued to Tata confirming the government's willingness to sell its 100 per cent stake in the airline.
Tata Sons has emerged as the top bidder for the takeover of debt-laden State-run airline Air India but the bid is yet to be approved by a group of ministers headed by Home Minister Amit Shah, sources said.
The Air India board gave a formal approval to the proposal on Thursday.
Air India chief Campbell Wilson on Friday said that a majority of pilots have accepted the new compensation package offered last week, amid protests by Air India pilots' unions against the revised salary structure and service conditions. The loss-making airline, which was taken over from the government by the Tata Group in January 2022, has announced a new compensation package for pilots and cabin crew. In his weekly message to Air India staff on Friday, Campbell said the airline is making investments in workplace technology and training as well as in new and improved employee benefits.
Flights from Mumbai and Kerala will also have to transit through these routes due to restrictions
Replying to questions on losses to Air India, civil aviation minister Praful Patel said the rally in international crude oil prices that touched $147 a barrel in July 2008, hit Indian carriers by Rs 10,000 crore (Rs 100 billion) in jet fuel bill. Air India loses are a result of high jet fuel prices and fall in air traffic following global economic slowdown, he said. "There are (also) systematic issues which need to be corrected."
'Whether it is the unions or the politicians, they don't have to do politics over Air India, but be guided by a solitary factor -- that we don't want Air India to fly into oblivion.'
