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.
Indian airlines are expected to post a consolidated loss of $4.1 billion this fiscal, similar to what they are estimated to have incurred in 2020-21, taking the total losses of two years to around $8 billion as a result of the pandemic so far, aviation consultancy and research firm CAPA said on Thursday. In a report, CAPA expects domestic passenger traffic to be around 80-95 million in 2021-22 as against 52.5 million in the previous financial year. However, despite this growth, it will be well below than around 140 million passenger volumes recorded in 2019-20, CAPA said in the report. This projection of the traffic volume does not take into account the anticipated third wave of the pandemic, it added.
IndiGo airline will face near-term pressure on profitability from rising fuel prices following the escalation of conflict in West Asia, though it is likely to pass on higher costs to passengers over time because its ticket booking cycle is relatively short, according to a report by Moody's Ratings.
The Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), the non-executive pilots' body of erstwhile Indian Airlines, on Wednesday said that it will not accept any pay cut proposed by the management.
'It is very clear that Air India cannot be managed by the government.' 'Air India should be run as a separate profit entity.'
The Air India board is likely to give its approval to the appointment of global consultancy firm, Booz Allen and Company, for its cost restructuring plan.
According to airline sources, the software, which is of Atlanta-based SITA company, was not functioning approximately from 3 am to 9 am on Saturday. Consequently, boarding passes could not be issued at major airports across the world and various flights were delayed.
Two aborted missions, three different ministers, multiple rule changes and two decades later, Indian taxpayers will no longer have to pay Rs 20 crore per day to keep the loss-making Air India flying. While opposition Congress expectedly attacked the decision as selling the family silver, DIPAM secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said what Tata is getting is not a cash cow but an airline which is bleeding where money needs to be pumped in to refurbish obsolete aircraft and dust up strangled ones while being unable to touch any employee for one year and only be able to resize staff after paying a VRS. "It won't be a very easy task there. Only advantage is they (new Air India owner) are paying the price which they think they can manage. "They are not taking the excessive debt accumulated to fund years of losses. We are continuing it as an ongoing concern.... This process has also saved huge amount of taxpayers money going forward," Pandey told PTI.
National carrier Air India, which will soon be merged with Indian Airlines, may partner Cochin International Airport for setting up an airframe maintenance, repair and overhaul facility near the Kochi airport, Kerala.
Executives from India's leading airlines are conducting internal meetings to devise alternative routes for their international flights that currently pass through Pakistani airspace.
A section of Air India employees have deferred its proposed strike from December 22 following an assurance from the NACIL management to look into their grievances. The employees owing allegiance to the Air Corporation Employees Union (ACEU), which is one of the unions of the erstwhile Indian Airlines, had on December 7 threatened to go on strike from December 22 alleging that the management had violated a conciliation pact signed with its representatives.
Air India has ordered 470 aircraft to serve the Indian economy and is set to receive a new aircraft every six days over the next 18 months, CEO and MD Campbell Wilson said on Friday. He was speaking at the 67th Assembly of Presidents of the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines here. "We have new aircraft, we are recruiting many, many new crew and staff, improving the training regime and there is more work to do and we are making good progress," he said.
The NCDRC gave its order dismissing Air India's appeal against the Tamil Nadu state consumer commission, which had upheld a Chennai district consumer forum's order to pay the compensation.
The United States has described as "discriminatory and restrictive" the Indian government not allowing American carriers operate chartered flights on Indo-US routes even though Air India was doing so under the Vande Bharat Mission.
'Just look at China: They have five or six major airlines and some smaller ones.'
The Dharmadhikari committee on pay fixation and promotion issues in government-owned Air India says minimal pay increments should be given till the airline makes an operating profit.
In its first move to significantly expand the fleet after the Tatas took over, Air India has leased 25 Airbus narrow-body aircraft and five Boeing wide-body planes. These will enter service starting December, the company said on Monday. A wide-body plane has a bigger fuel tank, allowing it to travel longer distances such as India-US routes.
Pannun, the self-proclaimed general counsel of "unlawful association" SFJ, released the video messages on social media platforms on November 4.
The two parties agreed further that no unilateral decision on cut in Productivity Linked Incentive would be taken. ICPA sources added that some suspended pilots would be reinstated.
In another development, aviation safety regulator DGCA in an order on Sunday late evening extended the time by Monday 6 pm for IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers and Chief Operating Officer and Accountable Manager Isidro Porqueras to submit reply to its show cause notice over the ongoing disruptions in the airline's operations.
The Union government has no 'Buy India' policy, but has a 'Buy Air India' policy.
The loss-making airline has already started using food items stocked from India during its onward journey to Stockholm, Copenhagen, Birmingham and Madrid, and use them when returning. It has said food items purchased from these foreign cities are much more expensive when compared to Indian cities.
The airline said it has filed a police complaint about the incident, but did not specify when the 30-day ban came into effect.
Airlines tell Arindam Majumder and Aneesh Phadnis they are forced to look at expats due to a lack of commanders, a position that requires experience.
India's last three major commercial aviation accidents --Patna (2000), Mangaluru (2010), and Kozhikode (2020) -- could offer critical safety lessons for the ongoing investigation.
While the civil aviation ministry's activist supervision of the airline's functioning is said to be responsible for much of the mess, the airline management has its own sins to answer for.
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.
An IAF aircrash investigation typically concludes in two/three odd months. The reason for the crash is usually established in a week's time.
The former Indian Airlines pilot won a good deal for colleagues protesting a pay cut; but others question whether the victory was good for the airline.
With over 700,000 annual passengers and 21 per cent market share Air India is the largest carrier on India-United Kingdom routes.
'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.'
Two unions representing Air India pilots have asked members not to accept the revised compensation and employment offer, calling the company's proposals "unfair labour practices." They said any coercion on pilots to sign the offer would lead to industrial unrest. The Tata group airline announced on Monday a new salary structure for pilots and cabin crew.
The timeline for disinvestment of Air India and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) may be pushed by two to three months due to impact of the second Covid-19 wave. However, the government is confident of wrapping up the sale of the two companies by FY22 and meeting the disinvestment target of Rs 1.75 trillion. This will be achieved by sale of government stake in core and non-core public sector undertakings (PSUs).
Nearly two months after the urination incident on its New York-New Delhi flight, Air India on Tuesday said it has closed the internal probe into the case and will assist the flight's pilot-in-command with an appeal against the suspension of his licence by DGCA as the airline deems the action as "excessive".
The three state-owned oil companies have decided to defer snapping fuel supplies to Air India. The airline owes the three firms over Rs 5,000 crore in past fuel bills.
Air India will purchase 220 planes from Boeing for $34 billion, with an option to buy 70 more aircraft that could take the total transaction value to $45.9 billion, a deal that US President Joe Biden described as a "historic agreement". While announcing the Boeing-Air India deal on Tuesday, Biden also asserted that together with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he was looking forward to deepen the ties between India and the US. As per an announcement from the White House, Boeing and Air India have reached an agreement under which the airline will purchase 190 B737 MAX, 20 B787, and 10 B777X for a total of 220 firm order valued at $34 billion at list price.
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.
An Air India plane that took off for Kyiv in Ukraine on Thursday morning to bring back Indians from the eastern European nation is returning to Delhi due to the closure of Ukrainian airspace amid the Russian military offensive.
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.
