Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Tuesday flew on SpiceJet's special flight between Delhi and Gwalior using Boeing's 737 Max plane that has been allowed to return to service after two and half years. All Max planes were grounded in India by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on March 13, 2019, three days after the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max plane near Addis Ababa, which had left 157 people, including four Indians, dead. Along with Scindia, SpiceJet CMD Ajay Singh and Boeing India president Salil Gupte were also present on the special flight on Tuesday.
Sunita added that "I hope, and I think for sure, I'm gonna be going back to my father's home country and visiting with people and getting excited about the first, or not the first, but the Indian national who's going up on the Axiom Mission coming up, pretty awesome," she said.
A selfie taken by Dr Prateek Joshi onboard the flight, showing the smiling family, has gone viral, capturing their excitement for the journey ahead.
'Who gave the Tatas the right to discontinue technically sound practices related to safety and security?'
The development also comes against the backdrop of Turkiye backing Pakistan and condemning India's strikes on terror camps in the neighbouring country earlier this month.
Air India plans to buy 27 B-787 'Dreamliners' from Boeing which are to be delivered in phases.
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.
The claims will include three kinds of liabilities: Damage to the aircraft; loss of lives who were aboard the aircraft; including the crew members; and third-party liability because of loss of lives where the aircraft crashed; and cargo liability.
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.
'If major components of any dead body from which you can retrieve DNA is available, that is enough.'
They were asked to wait for 72 hours, but the deadline passed on Sunday and the wait seems endless.
The landmark Air India-Boeing deal will create up to 1 million jobs across 44 states in the US and will further deepen bilateral ties, President Joe Biden has told Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Boeing and Air India announced a mega deal on Tuesday under which the Tata Group-owned airline will purchase 190 B737 MAX, 20 B787, and 10 B777X for a total of 220 firm orders valued at $34 billion at list price. The deal will also include customer options for an additional 50 Boeing 737 MAX and 20 Boeing 787, totalling 290 airplanes for a total of $45.9 billion at the list price.
UN chief Antonio Guterres, US President Donald Trump, his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney were among scores of world leaders who offered condolences to the people of India in wake of the tragic plane crash in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
The Ahmedabad air tragedy, which claimed the lives of all but one of the 242 passengers and crew on board, and several others on the ground, has left deep scars on BJMC's residential quarters and the psyche of the survivors.
Glimpses from Day 1 at Aero India 2025 at the Yelahanka air base in Bengaluru, India, February 10, 2025.
An Air India flight bound for New York returned to Mumbai on Monday morning after a bomb threat was reported. The aircraft, carrying 303 passengers, was thoroughly checked by security agencies, and nothing suspicious was found. The flight has been rescheduled to operate at 5 am on Tuesday, and passengers have been offered hotel accommodation and other assistance. This incident follows a recent trend of hoax bomb threats on flights, with at least 15 flights receiving such threats this year.
Along with HAL, Boeing intends to involve the Mahindra Group in building Super Hornets in India.
Three Indian carriers -- SpiceJet, Vistara and Air India Express -- have Boeing 737 aircraft in their fleets.
"By the time this fiscal year ends and then next one starts and unless someone does a harakiri in lowering their fare, we see a good scenario beginning April onwards," Boeing India president Dinesh Keskar told PTI in an interview.
Boeing will bring over 20 aircraft for the domestic market.
The Air India delivery would follow the first delivery to Japanese airline Air Nippon Airways, slated for the third quarter of this year, Boeing India President Dinesh Keskar said in Bengaluru.
According to Boeing, India would need 1,940 single-aisle planes worth $220 billion and 350 wide-body aircraft valued at $100 billion.
As for now, let's just say Air India has a long way to go before it can be the reliable, comfortable choice we all dream of. But until then, we'll just keep our expectations in check, enjoy the camaraderie of shared movies, and hope for the best, observes Abhijit J Masih who flew Air India recently to the States.
A passenger spotted the note with the message "There is a bomb in the flight" written on it inside the toilet and alerted the crew, a Sahar police official here said.
Malaysian doubles specialist Tan Kim Her has reunited with star pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, starting his second stint at the Indian badminton landscape.
Boeing is likely to vie for the deal to supply 110 fighter jets to the IAF in one of the biggest such procurement in recent years globally which could be worth over USD 15 billion.
India has its share of both large tech companies and large national laboratories, but why is it that these don't seem to be at the forefront of any innovation news headlines? asks Ajit Balakrishnan.
Modi said space exploration is about pushing the limits of human potential, daring to dream and having the courage to turn those dreams into reality.
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 on Monday said it will lease 12 more aircraft comprising both A320 neo and Boeing 777, which are expected to be inducted in its existing fleet in the first half of 2023. The new planes will be deployed on the airline's short, medium and long-haul international routes, Air India said in a statement. Air India said it has leased 42 aircraft since its privatisation in January this year.
The Canadian Air Force aircraft is ferrying 191 stranded passengers of an Air India flight from Iqaluit airport has landed in Chicago.
Boeing's plan involves setting up an Indian factory and the aerospace ecosystem to build the Block II Super Hornet.
The plane was scheduled to be delivered by aircraft manufacturer Boeing to Air India in July but its delivery was delayed twice --once in July for a few weeks due to COVID-19 pandemic and then in August for a few weeks due to technical reasons -- the officials noted.
Last year, Boeing upgraded the cabin of its Boeing 737 with new features such as LED lighting, bigger overhead bins and new ceiling panels.
The aircraft, which has been grounded since March following two fatal crashes which killed 346 on board, is crucial to Indian low-cost airline SpiceJet's fortune, which has up to 205 aircraft on order. With the grounding, the airline's capacity expansion plan is suffering.
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.
From highways connecting once-remote regions to aviation networks carrying millions, India's infrastructure story is one of transformation.
SpiceJet had last year announced a $4.4-bn deal for 42 Boeing 737 Max.
Tan Kim Her's voice was tinged with emotion as he reflected on the journey of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, the two men he paired and who fondly call him "Daddy".
Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams returned to Earth after completing a record-breaking 9-month mission to the International Space Station. The mission was initially planned for eight days but was extended due to issues with their Boeing spacecraft. During her mission, Williams broke the record for most time spent spacewalking by a woman, completing 62 hours and 9 minutes of extra-vehicular activity.
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