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.
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.
Air India's outgoing CMD Rohit Nanda helped the airline tide over crisis.
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.
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."
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.
More than 30 flights of various Indian airlines, including Vistara, Air India and IndiGo, received bomb threats on Saturday, according to sources.
In a December 2012 interview, Ratan Tata, then preparing to step down as chairman of Tata Sons, expressed doubts about the Tata group re-entering the aviation sector, calling it a space plagued by "destructive competition". But beneath that frustration lay nearly two decades of failed attempts to conquer the Indian skies. In 1994, Tata, along with Singapore Airlines, had plans to launch a joint venture (JV) airline in India.
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.
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.
The biggest challenge is not the airline's debt, but downsizing its 16,800 employees, says Surajeet Dasgupta.
He said no matter how much evolution happens in technology, India could never become a fully cashless economy.
'It is an indication that they had forgotten to retract the landing gear. That causes heavy drag, and you cannot accelerate or gain height too fast with a hanging gear.'
'It goes without saying that Air India has now no imaginable reason to exist.'
"Unless he tenders an unconditional apology to AI employees, and undertakes in writing to abide by the Chicago and Tokyo Conventions & Rules of the Air and follow all cabin safety and public behaviour norms, we must not let him on board," says the letter.
A mutually beneficial relationship between the airline and the govt is the reason for its continued funding.
From highways connecting once-remote regions to aviation networks carrying millions, India's infrastructure story is one of transformation.
In the case of Air India, even competition could not compete with the government.
The renaming of the trophy is an ode to two living legends England pacer James Anderson and Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar.
Says pilots ready to resume work but civil aviation minister unwilling to reinstate sacked employees
The CVC had asked the CBI to probe the 'irregularities in the tendering process and award of contract and undue benefit caused to the SAP/IBM'.
Select works from the airline's huge art collection will be showcased at the National Gallery of Modern Art in the exhibition titled 'Air India salutes Indian Masters', which begins in New Delhi on Saturday and runs till September 1.
Meanwhile, a precautionary blackout has been enforfced in the multiple areas amid the esclating tensions between India and Pakistan.
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.
Pilot groups have accused the AAIB of portraying the pilots as responsible for the incident, with vague and selective presentation of cockpit conversations.
We celebrate the pioneering achievements of Captain Durba Banerjee and Avani Chaturvedi, leaders in Indian aviation.
IOC, BPCL and HPCL on Thursday afternoon stopped ATF supplies to Air India at six airports - Kochi, Pune, Patna, Ranchi, Vizag and Mohali - over payment defaults. AI flights from these places were tanking up from other airports.
The flights cancelled are to Dubai (AI 713), Delhi-London (AI 129), Delhi-Hong Kong (AI 310), Chennai-Singapore (AI 472) and Kuwait (AI 859). The problem is SARS.
Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, a project which was marred by repeated delays and obstacles, is an instance of the most advanced aviation technology available. Its aerodynamic design, engines, flight controls and avionics are almost part of the aviation folklore.
"It was a very proud moment for me as well as the entire Air India crew when we heard from Pakistan ATC praising our special flight operations to Europe," one of the senior captains of the special flight said.
For the first time in the Indian aviation history, an airline company is going to cover its losses occurred due to foggy conditions during the upcoming winter season.
'AAIB preliminary report was more detailed than most people were expecting.'
The airline will induct four more Dreamliners next year to complete order of 27 of these aircraft
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the launch of the new flight at the SAP center cheering up thousands of Indians.
As of now, Air India serves sandwich (both vegetarian and non-vegetarian) and cake on its flights, which are up to 90 minutes of duration, which will be discontinued from January 1, 2016, replaced with "all vegetarian" hot meal, an airline circular said.
So should airlines play the keening, trance-like Siddi folk music from the Kutch peninsula? The Sufiana Kalam of Kashmir? Carnatic music? Rabindra Sangeet? Bihu melodies? Classical music from the Hindustani gharanas? Ghazals? Bhajans? Bollywood hits?... asks Kanika Datta.
Air-India (A-I) chairman and managing director Vasudevan Thulasidas and Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal have a common agenda: to get their airlines among Asia's top five by 2010 in terms of size and service.
Air India, which is set to fly to Moscow from early next month, is exploring CIS destinations among the new places that it wants to expand its global operations to, an airline official said.
India's largest airline has also told its crew members -- who are working on flights connecting India with East Asian countries like Thailand and Singapore -- to wear N95 masks at all times when they are on ground.
Coordination between defence and civilian authorities has freed up airspace for commercial airlines in India, resulting in routes becoming shorter and costs coming down, apart from mitigating pollution. "Due to various restrictions of the military, only about 58 per cent of the Indian airspace was being utilised. It is close to 70 per cent now," said an official of the Airports Authority of India (AAI). Officials of the AAI said to date 119 routes had been shortened. Sources said since December 2020 the cumulative savings of airlines had been close to Rs 200 crore while there was a reduction in emission of around 45,000 tonnes of carbon.
