Ashwani Lohani is presently working as Managing Director of Madhya Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation in Bhopal.
Air India is in a better state now than it was when Lohani's predecessor took over in 2011, four years after a merger with state-run carrier Indian Airlines.
The international operations of Air India seem to be the main attraction for IndiGo, which has also flagged concerns about some foreign overseas airlines being allowed "disproportionate access" to the Indian market.
For the AI bid, Interups has joined hands with a few employees of the airline, and plans to raise funds by splitting some of its infrastructure-related assets into an aviation InvIT, which will have underlying assets such as air routes, ground handling, repairs, and training etc.
Passenger traffic to Lakshadweep more than doubled from April to June this year.
Infighting among pilots might impact Air India's 787 flights
More than 80 domestic and international flights of various Indian airlines received bomb threats on Thursday, according to sources.
There were many who had reposed faith in the Narendra Modi government for expeditious action but are today beginning to feel disillusioned, notes Jitender Bhargava.
The overheating of the oven during a July 24 flight from New Delhi to Kolkata did not cause a fire
Air India must tighten costs to comes out of the red or it wil perish in no time, says experts.
Integration of workforce has been a thorny issue and a cause of litigation and strikes.
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.
Air India would add about 400 daily flights and over 40 new destinations in India to the 27-member Alliance network of over 18,500 daily flights to 1,316 airports in 195 countries.
Nearly 80 domestic and international flights received bomb threats in less than 24 hours that later turned out to be hoaxes, keeping thousands of passengers and security agencies on tenterhooks.
"Air India is unable to pay even after a 90-day credit period. They owe us about Rs 300 crore without interest. There is also no bank guarantee from Air India to any of the oil marketing companies. We do not know when will the company honour its dues," said a BPCL official on condition of anonymity.
The Maharajah and his men are going places, and you can also hitch a ride
The government is also planning to replace the current ageing Air India One or Boeing 747 with Boeing 777s. Arup Roychoudhury and Archis Mohan report.
Airbus will increase sourcing of components from India, which offers plenty of opportunities, according to the aircraft maker's CEO Guillaume Faury. The European major, which has bagged huge aircraft orders from IndiGo and Air India, doubled its sourcing of components and services from India to 1 billion euros during the period from 2019-2023, he said.
With no equity infusion from the government in sight and the company posting losses to the tune of Rs 2,154 crore (Rs 21.54 billion) in FY'08, the National Aviation Company of India (NACIL) has tightened its purse-strings.
Life of air passengers was different in the 1970s.
More than 35 Air-India pilots, owing allegiance to the now derecognised Indian Pilots Guild, have reported for duty, the airline said on Thursday.
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.
Trouble is again brewing in Air India ahead of the upcoming busy holiday season, with a section of pilots resenting a proposed 15 per cent cut in their allowances, saying such a reduction would place their pay packets below what was prevailing in the market.
In the previous decade, the government, with Praful Patel as the civil aviation minister, saw the introduction of an irrational 5/20 policy.
The company has dismissed 194 cabin crew and 11 pilots over past year for unauthorised absence and such reasons.
With the London airport opening up after wide-spread flight disruptions caused by volcanic ash from Iceland, Air India and Jet Airways on Wednesday readied themselves to resume operation to the UK.
At the heart of the current controversy is the government's FDI rule
Airfares have nearly doubled in a matter of days on routes hit by the cancellation of 200 weekly flights linking Mumbai airport to 12 cities. The fares have soared as high as 193 per cent following a recent government order to cancel flights to ease "persistent congestion" that was causing delays. Aside from the reduction in flights on 12 routes, two destinations - Hubli and Jabalpur - have lost connectivity with Mumbai since last week, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium's data reviewed
Growing trade and commerce in the region could support passenger demand
The threats via microblogging platform X came a day after three international flights originating from Mumbai received bomb threats, causing trouble to hundreds of passengers and airline crew.
The CMD's focus on raising employee morale and cutting costs is paying off. The airline's operating losses have shrunk and earnings are looking up
For the first time ever, Air India (AI) has decided to induct Indian pilots on a five-year contract, giving rise to fear among the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) that sacked pilots might not be inducted on a permanent basis.
Expatriates from Kerala have launched a campaign against government carriers Air India and Indian Airlines for frequently cancelling and delaying flights at the Calicut International airport and demanded an open sky policy for international carriers.
Air India's outgoing CMD Rohit Nanda helped the airline tide over crisis.
Old aircraft, tough competition and higher operational costs made making profits much more difficult for Air India. Here are some ways to revive the national carrier.
A Boeing Co 787 Dreamliner operated by Air India this week returned to London due to a communications problem, but has since been operational, the state-run carrier said on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters after inaugurating a Rs 50-crore (Rs 500-million) aviation turbine fuel pipeline of Indian Oil Corporation from Manali to Chennai, the minister said: "Air India will not sack employees but financial and organisational restructuring is on the cards."
The biggest challenge is not the airline's debt, but downsizing its 16,800 employees, says Surajeet Dasgupta.
Gaikwad booked a seat on flight AI 806 from Mumbai to Delhi for Wednesday earlier on Tuesday through his staff which was promptly cancelled by the airline. This was followed by another attempt to book a seat on AI 551 from Hyderabad to Delhi, again for on Wednesday, which was cancelled, too.
Oil companies last week sent a notice for stopping aviation turbine fuel supplies to Air India at some airports like Calicut and Jaipur, officials said in New Delhi.
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