Normally, Air India operates five weekly flights to Tel Aviv from the national capital. The service is on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.
After more than two decades and three attempts, the government has finally sold its flagship national carrier Air India, and it is deja vu for Maharaja as it returned home to its founding father the Tata group. Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy (JRD) Tata founded the airline in 1932 and named it Tata Airlines. In 1946, the aviation division of Tata Sons was listed as Air India, and in 1948, the Air India International was launched with flights to Europe. The international service was among the first public-private partnerships in India, with the government holding 49 per cent, the Tatas keeping 25 per cent and the public owning the rest. In 1953, Air India was nationalised and for the next over four decades it remained the prized possession for India controlling the majority of the domestic airspace.
Domestic air traffic grew by over 18 per cent last month compared to October last year as Air India's passenger load factor overshot that of IndiGo which had the largest number of flight cancellations, official data showed on Monday.
The government has initiated the process for inviting financial bids for the sale of national carrier Air India and the deal is likely to conclude by September, sources said. Salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group was among the "multiple" entities that had put in preliminary bids for buying loss-making Air India in December last year. The sources said that after analysing the preliminary bids, eligible bidders were given access to the Virtual Data Room (VDR) of Air India, following which investors' queries were answered.
The government has notified the agreement between Air India and special purpose vehicle AIAHL for the transfer of non-core assets, ahead of the national airline's takeover by the Tata Group. The government had in October last year, inked the share purchase agreement with the Tata Group for the sale of national carrier Air India for Rs 18,000 crore. The Tata Group is expected to take full control of the airline, it founded in 1932, on Thursday. The cash component of the deal would come once the handover process is completed. The Tata Group would pay Rs 2,700 crore cash and take over Rs 15,300 crore of the airline's debt.
Air India top brass on Thursday met leaders of two pilots' unions and assured them that their problems would be looked into, especially those relating to the wage structure.
'India is giving selective traffic rights wherever it makes sense to allocate those traffic rights.'
Aviation watchdog DGCA has granted IndiGo a six-month extension to operate two leased Boeing 777 aircraft from Turkish Airlines, subject to certain conditions. This decision comes after a previous extension and amidst geopolitical considerations.
Sri Lanka continues relief and rescue efforts with India's assistance after Cyclone Ditwah caused widespread devastation, killing over 190 people and affecting nearly a million.
With the gradual shrinking of Mallya-owned Kingfisher Airlines and rise in fares by 30-40 per cent in 2012-13 as compared to last year, the carrier improved its market share from 16 per cent to 20 per cent in the last seven to eight months.
The Boeing 787-8 aircraft -- VT-ANB -- was 11.5 years old and had flown for more than 41,000 hours, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
Tickets will be sold only through Air India website from August 27-31 and for travel during August 27-September 30.
Ending a seven-year-long wait, the Star Alliance Chief Executive Board, at its meeting in London on Monday, gave an endorsement vote to induct Air India into the fold.
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.
In a culture where children take up the profession of their father, her becoming a politician was seen as natural and acceptable.
A decision to merge Air India and Indian is likely to be taken in the current fiscal to turn the combined entity into a mega carrier with about 130 aircraft to take on the major global carriers like Singapore Airlines, Emirates and British Airways.
After the merger between the two national carriers -- Indian (formerly Indian Airlines) and Air India, the merged airline will have its first flight from Mumbai to New York on August 1, said Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel.
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."
This is a setback for the divestment process of Air India as no other Indian airline has the capability to fund the process
Enormous debt isn't the only thing afflicting Air India. Its work culture is an equal culprit in its downfall.
The average number of flights the Air India group, including subsidiaries Alliance Air and Air India Express, operates daily is 674.
"Financial bids for Air India disinvestment received by Transaction Adviser. Process now moves to concluding stage," DIPAM Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey tweeted.
Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha emphasised that the brand name has both sentimental and economical value.
India and Russia have agreed to jointly produce a twin-engine narrow-body passenger aircraft for short-haul flights, marking a significant step in their strategic ties. Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and Russia's Public Joint Stock Company United Aircraft Corporation (PJSC-UAC) have signed an agreement for the production of SJ-100 aircraft in India.
The airline is also looking at cities in the northeast.
Air India, IndiGo, and SpiceJet have suspended flights to China and Hong Kong.
Pakistan has extended the closure of its airspace for Indian flights until June 24, 2025, citing the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) rules that restrict such closures for a month at a time. The ban, which was first imposed in May after the April 22 Pahalgam terrorist attack, applies to all Indian-registered, operated, owned, or leased aircraft, including military aircraft. The decision comes after an IndiGo pilot requested permission to briefly use Pakistani airspace to avoid turbulence during a hailstorm, but the request was rejected.
India's first escalator, its shortest elevator, a terror attack, a rescue operation -- the building's seen a lot.
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.
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.
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.
Indian carriers are grappling with severe operational disruptions after Iran launched missile strikes on the US military base in Qatar late Monday. This led to airspace closures for long hours in parts of West Asia. Iran, Qatar, the UAE, Bahrain, and Kuwait shut down their skies following the attack, forcing airlines to cancel, divert, or delay flights through these vital corridors.
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.
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 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.
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.
'They are saying that there is a pilot shortage which is not correct, but if it was true, did they suddenly come to know this on December 5?' 'If they didn't have crew, why did they seek approval for a winter schedule? To get the approval, the operator has to show crew strength and also a buffer of crew available.' 'If they had a crew crunch, why did they ask for extra flights? Or was it something else that made them so sure that they would get away with this exemption and bans?'
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