For the first time in 13 years, since Jet Airways' A330 planes exited the airline's fleet in around 2010, an Indian wide-body aircraft will have a Rolls-Royce-powered engine, with Air India ordering 40 Airbus A350 planes. On Tuesday, Air India announced its mega aircraft order for 470 aircraft, including A350 planes. The A350 aircraft, which will come in two variants, are powered solely by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines and the local team has begun work to assist Air India with its aircraft-induction plans.
The entire issue of compensation, including the amount to be claimed and how, has been forwarded to the government for approval, sources said, adding that matter came up for a thorough discussion at the meeting of the Board, sources said.
Air India's flying crew, ground and security staff will soon sport new uniforms designed by fashion designer Manish Malhotra as the Tata Group-owned airline embraces a new global brand identity. As Air India pursues a revival and modernisation plan, the new uniforms are expected to be introduced for the frontline staff by the end of this year and are likely to coincide with the induction of the airline's first wide-body A350 aircraft into its fleet. Malhotra -- whose career spans more than 30 years as a couturier, costume stylist, and entrepreneur -- and his team have started meeting Air India's frontline staff, conducting discussions and fitting sessions with them to better understand their specialised needs, the airline said in a release on Thursday.
Air India is aiming to improve its financials by pruning loss-making flights, improving fleet use, increasing web sales and selling & leasing back 14 Boeing 787s by March-end, top airline executives said on Monday.
As Boeing rolled out its new B-787 'Dreamliner', Air India has said it had chosen the aircraft as its workhorse keeping in mind concerns of economics and environment while the US aircraft major promised to buy goods and services from Indian cos.
On one hand, South Indian states have been complaining about denial of a proportionate portion of the sharable funds from the Centre, based on population. On the other hand, they stand to lose Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seats that again are based on population, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Rajnath Singh's message was very clear: India's focus is on developing self-reliance.'
Don't do any strange things in preparation ahead of Olympics, Gopichand's advise to shuttlers
Moving ahead with its fleet expansion plan, cash-strapped Air India has sought a long-term loan of USD 475 million from banks and financial institutions to acquire three long-haul Boeing-777s.
Boeing is likely to form a JV with the Tatas to make defence related aerospace parts.
Air India on Thursday unveiled a new brand identity and aircraft livery as the airline moves ahead with its transformation plan since being taken over by Tata Group more than one-and-a-half years ago. The new look re-imagines the iconic Indian window shape, historically used by Air India, into a gold window frame that becomes central to the new brand design system. It symbolises a 'Window of Possibilities', according to a release.
'We have informed the government multiple times that the situation in the US and India are different.' 'Here, there will be a 500 MHz gap in the frequencies which will safely allow aviation without interference.'
US aircraft manufacturer Boeing has asked Air India to avoid flying its Dreamliner planes near thunderstorms as it enhanced the risk of icing on engines and the airline has changed its operating procedures accordingly.
This is Boeing's third advanced research centre outside the US, the others being in Europe and Australia. This centre would carry out continued collaboration with Indian R&D organisations, including government agencies and private sector R&D providers, universities and other companies, Boeing officials said.
The ongoing fourth quarter earnings season, global factors and macroeconomic data would guide the trends in the equity markets this week, analysts said. Markets would also take cues from trading activity of foreign investors, rupee-dollar trend and movement of global oil benchmark Brent crude. "Domestically, the next batch of Q4 earnings reports will drive stock-specific movements, Hero MotoCorp, Larsen & Toubro, BPCL, State Bank of India, Eicher Motors and Tata Motors are some of the big names in the list and the next phase of voting," said Pravesh Gour, senior technical analyst, Swastika Investmart Ltd.
While the government is working on final contours for a strategic divestment of its stake in loss-making Air India, the airline is ready with plans to fly to more overseas destinations.
All the 50 Dreamliners delivered by Boeing to airlines across the world, including six of Air India, have been grounded following two incidents of fire and smoke in the lithium ion batteries.
'Airlines are aware that during peak times like Diwali, demand will be high, so prices remain steep even for tickets purchased 90 days ahead.'
The facility is a joint venture between the aerospace major and national carrier Air India, while MADC, a government agency, has provided the land. The 99-year lease agreement is for 50 acres of land located adjacent to the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport under the prestigious Multi-modal International Passenger and Cargo Hub, Nagpur project.
Air-India's decision to purchase Boeing's 787 Dreamliners has re-ignited the fight for supremacy between Boeing and Europe's Airbus in the civil aviation market, media reports said in Washington.
The number of Indian passengers has jumped more than 20 per cent in the past year
Indian budget airline SpiceJet has agreed to buy around 40 Boeing 737 passenger jets worth over $4 billion at list prices as it seeks to modernize its fleet and climb out of the red, industry sources said on Tuesday.
Air India used to fly its 787s on three domestic and three international routes.
Satwik said the losses had not dampened the pair's spirits but made them more hungry for success in Paris.
Air India's decision to buy five Boeing 787-9 is illogical.
Boeing on Tuesday said it would finalise by June the location for its $100 million maintenance, repair and overhaul facility in India.
The Tata Group-owned Air India has decided to procure its maiden batch of wide-bodied A350 aircraft of Airbus and the first plane is likely to be delivered to the airline by March 2023, sources have said.
The presence of an engine maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facility in India could have prevented Go First airline from going "belly up", as sending engines abroad for servicing is not an efficient way to operate a carrier, Piyush Srivastava, senior economic advisor, Ministry of Civil Aviation, said in a statement on Tuesday. On May 3, Go First suspended its flights and filed for insolvency, squarely blaming engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney (PW) for its cash crunch. The airline claimed that about half of its 54 aircraft were grounded on May 3 due to a delay in the supply of engines by the US-based company. PW has denied the charges.
The passengers were transferred to another Boeing 747 in Mumbai for their onward journey
Air India Express along with SpiceJet and Jet Airways is one of the three main targets for Boeing in the country as it promotes its new 737 MAX aircraft, which is scheduled to enter commercial operations in 2017.
The United States government has approved a licence authorising Boeing Co. to enter into talks with India's premier space agency for jointly developing and marketing communication satellites, an official said Tuesday.
This keeps the American aircraft giant on track to deliver five of the large, versatile military transport aircraft to the IAF this year, and five more in 2014.
Boeing's 50 Dreamliners in service have been grounded since mid-January following two incidents involving battery problems.
Air India on Monday said it will progressively induct 30 new aircraft, including 5 wide-body Boeing planes, from December this year, as the Tatas-owned airline looks to boost its domestic and international services. The airline has signed leases and letters of intent for inducting 5 wide-body Boeing and 25 Airbus narrow-body planes over the next 15 months. "These new aircraft, which will enter service from late 2022, will increase the airline's fleet by over 25 per cent.
"The deliveries of all 787 dreamliners will start from the second quarter of the next financial year and will complete by 2014. These fuel-efficient aircraft will help us reduce costs of our long-haul operations," said an Air India official.
International aircraft major Boeing on Tuesday welcomed the Congress-led government's move to have a relook at the Indian Airlines' plans to order 43 aircraft from the European consortium Airbus Industries.
The embassy observations are part of a confidential official cable released by whistleblower website WikiLeaks on August 30.
Full service carrier Air India on Thursday announced a new multi-year global distribution services partnership with US-based Sabre Corporation. The collaboration enables travel agents and corporations around the world to access Air India fares and seats through Sabre's extensive global travel marketplace, Air India said in a statement. In addition to the distribution services, Air India said it is utilising Sabre's consultancy expertise to help determine optimal routes for its existing and new fleet.
