IndiGo, which operates the largest fleet among Indian carriers, has reported the highest number of serious engine-related incidents.
The civil aviation ministry reports six aircraft engine shutdown incidents and three May Day calls in India this year. The Air India plane crash investigation is ongoing, with all aspects being examined.
Air India's use of artificial intelligence (AI) has had a huge impact on the airline major's call centre volumes and the technology integration has reduced costs by 100 times, a senior company executive said on Wednesday. The airline launched its own chatbot AI.g, earlier known as Maharaja, in May 2023. The chatbot has answered approximately two million queries since its launch, handling 93 per cent of customer inquiries without needing to pass them on to call centre agents, said Sathya Ramaswamy, Chief Digital and Technology Officer, Air India.
'It is most pertinent to note that in over 25 years of flying, Captain Sabharwal had not had a single incident or accident-causing fatalities or otherwise'
The Maharashtra government has become the owner of iconic Air India building with the Union government approving transfer of the asset on Thursday. The Maharashtra government bought the Air India building at Nariman Point in Mumbai for Rs 1,601 crore. "GoI has approved transfer of Air India building, Mumbai of AI Assets Holding Company Ltd (AIAHL) to Government of Maharashtra (GoM) at consideration of Rs.1601 cr. GoM has agreed to waive dues of Rs. 298.42 cr, which would have been otherwise payable by AIAHL to GoM for this transaction," DIPAM secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said in a post on X.
Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has sought a report from Air India on reports that an aircraft that was to operate a scheduled flight has been deployed for flying out the Indian cricket team from Barbados, according to officials.
Air India will begin operating flights between Ahmedabad and London Heathrow from August 1, replacing the Gatwick route. The airline is also partially resuming domestic and international services suspended after a fatal plane crash. Some routes will remain suspended until September 30, while others will see increased frequency.
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 Delhi-bound Air India flight had to abort its take-off and was later cancelled after it hit a luggage tractor trolley while taxiing for departure at the Pune airport, airline sources said on Friday.
Though the glitch affected the system for a couple of minutes, it took an hour to fix it, the source said.
A timeline of events related to the investigation of the Air India Boeing 787 crash in Ahmedabad, including investigation initiation, black box recovery, and safety measures taken.
Both parties will discuss the issues and there will be a meeting again on May 28, he said.
After walking down the track earlier in the over to drive the bowler through covers, Gill shuffled again, only this time he used his supple wrists to nonchalantly flick the left-arm pacer over fine leg and deep into the stands.
But selectively, with regulatory scrutiny and special approval, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Former Civil Aviation Minister and senior NCP leader Praful Patel on Wednesday questioned the "silence" of Singapore Airlines over the horrific crash of an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner in Ahmedabad last week.
Singapore's competition regulator CCCS on Tuesday said it has given conditional approval for the proposed merger of Air India and Vistara, more than a year after the announcement of the deal. This was one of the key approvals required for the transaction. The merger of Vistara with Air India under a deal, wherein Singapore Airlines will acquire a 25.1 per cent stake in Air India, was announced in November 2022. Vistara is a joint venture between Singapore Airlines and Tata Group.
Air India (AI)'s rise could be at the expense of three "super-connector" hubs - Doha in Qatar, and Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the UAE - as the Indian passenger would any day prefer direct flights of their national airline that is providing excellent on-time service, Arved von zur Muehlen, chief commercial officer of Saudia Airlines, said on Thursday.
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft that went down soon after take-off was operating the flight 'AI 171' from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick.
In little over a year, Air India and IndiGo have announced plans to purchase up to 170 wide-body planes as they bet on ambitious expansion and efforts also continue to make India a global aviation hub. Also, the two carriers' orders usher in European aircraft maker Airbus into the country's wide-body space, which has traditionally been dominated by US major Boeing. If narrow-body aircraft orders of Air India, IndiGo and Akasa Air are added to the list, the order book is well over 1,200 planes and that too in less than 14 months or since February 2023.
Families of victims of the Air India plane crash have hired a US law firm to explore legal options, seeking answers and accountability.
21-year-old Nganthoi Sharma Kongbrailatpam was part of the cabin crew in Air India flight AI 171, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which crashed near Ahmedabad airport on Thursday.
Airline Pilots' Association of India demands a fair and fact-based probe into the Air India plane crash, rejecting any bias towards pilot error in the investigation.
'The overall well-being of the pilots should be at the top of any airline's agenda in such situations.'
'Who tried engine relight?' 'If the first officer was the one flying at takeoff, the captain may have taken control immediately post-thrust loss.' 'But the AAIB report doesn't clarify any of this.'
The Supreme Court has criticized the selective publication of a preliminary report on the Air India crash, calling it 'unfortunate and irresponsible'. The court raised concerns about privacy, dignity of victims' families, and the potential for biased narratives.
The Indian Commercial Pilots' Association (ICPA) defends the crew of the crashed AI 171 flight, rejecting insinuations of pilot suicide and calling for a fair investigation.
The international cargo operations of two major carriers - IndiGo and Air India Group (Air India and Vistara) - are experiencing opposite trajectories despite both the airlines significantly expanding their international flight offerings over the past year. During the fourth quarter of 2023-24, IndiGo's international non-passenger cargo business declined to 6,848 tonnes. This is an 18.2 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) decrease, according to data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)
Air India CEO Campbell Wilson addresses the preliminary report on the Ahmedabad plane crash, stating no mechanical or maintenance issues were found with the aircraft. He urges against premature conclusions as the investigation continues.
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.
Father of deceased pilot and Federation of Indian Pilots petition Supreme Court for a court-monitored inquiry into the Air India flight AI171 crash in Ahmedabad.
'...rectification has to happen then and there, and that takes additional time.'
Passengers of a San Francisco-bound Air India flight faced a harrowing time due to an inordinate delay and some of them fainted as the aircraft's air-conditioning system was non-functional.
Air India pilots said Ahmedabad airport has long been known for bird activity near the runway, which could have contributed to the incident.
Families mourn the devastating loss of their loved ones in the tragic plane crash.
The only case where there could be a change in insurance payout is if Air India's management were found to be aware of the accident and the accident was deliberate.
Discontent has been brewing among a section of the cabin crew at the low-cost carrier for some time now, especially after the start of the process of merger of AIX Connect, formerly AirAsia India, with itself.
India has advised its citizens to defer travel to Nepal due to ongoing unrest and anti-government protests. The Ministry of External Affairs has also urged Indian citizens currently in Nepal to exercise caution and avoid public areas.
Describing their situation akin to "bonded labour", two Air India pilot unions extended their support to Vistara pilots on Thursday, who have raised grievances regarding the duty roster and the revised salary structure. Amid the slew of flight cancellations and delays, Vistara chief executive officer Vinod Kannan acknowledged on Wednesday that pilot utilisation in the airline was high, and announced plans to scale back its flight schedule and overhaul the rostering system to provide pilots with more rest time.
The flight had departed after a delay of almost 3.5 hours as its scheduled departure was at 8.50 am, as per flight tracking website flightradar24.com.
Air India's ill-fated Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner that crashed soon after take off from Ahmedabad airport on June 12 underwent comprehensive maintenance checks in June 2023 and was due for the next scheduled comprehensive checks in December this year, according to airline officials.
