The Union Cabinet is likely to take up the airline industry's concerns over high taxes on jet fuel and airport charges at its next meeting and a Group of Ministers (GoM) may be set up to focus on ATF pricing.
A govt official says there is consensus among the airlines and the ministry that fixing an upper limit in airfares will not be a constructive idea
Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh also expressed doubts whether the carrier, facing a partial lockout, will be able to fly from Friday.
The full-service airline has faced multiple challenges in its run.
At present, the booming airline industry is facing a shortage of approximately 1,000 qualified pilots, Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told Rajya Sabha in a written reply on Tuesday. Patel said the government has taken various steps, including increasing the retirement age of pilots to 65 years and setting up of a training institute in Maharashtra, to reduce the demand-supply gap.
The government will start working on selling the ground-handling arm of erstwhile national carrier Air India and the Expression of Interest (EoI) is expected in the next fiscal, an official said. "We already have the Cabinet approval for selling the subsidiaries of Air India. "So we will come out with an EoI inviting bids for one of the ground-handling arms in the next fiscal," an official told PTI.
Six senior Airports Authority of India officials have been suspended after a preliminary CBI probe found them allegedly favouring a private firm while awarding ground handling service contracts at some airports.
It can be a game changer experience for all the long haul travellers for whom flying long hours is a nauseating experience.
Sixty-five incidents of two aircraft coming into close proximity were reported in last three years and some of them occurred when air traffic was being handled by trainee controllers, the Lok Sabha was informed on Wednesday.
The sources said that during the boarding, the male passenger behaved in an unruly manner and touched the female cabin crew member inappropriately.
Aviation industry experts expect the ATF prices to fall by 16 per cent in November, compared with the current month. This, they say, translates into bridging of nearly half the gap between the airlines' operational costs and total revenues.
The practice of charging for ancillary services on domestic flights is likely to grow as competition soars.
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.
Civil aviation minister Praful Patel, has said that the government has plans to touch 100 operational airports by 2008 and was working to create at least 500 small and big airports across the country. Highlighting the oil sector, Patel said that the sector needs introspection. "Unless we work on our oil sector, we are not going to be a stable economic power in the long run," the ministry added.
Subhash Tomar, the Delhi Police constable who on Tuesday morning succumbed to injuries sustained during the violence at India Gate on Sunday, was cremated in New Delhi with police honours.
'It is an illegal strike. They have defied the high court.'
Nath said talking about "mandir-masjid" will not generate employment.
The government indicated on Saturday that an early decision was likely on the proposals of fleet acquisition by Air-India and Indian Airlines as well as of privatisating the four metro airports.
"The Indian government approached asking us to open the airspace. We conveyed our concerns that first India must withdraw its fighter planes placed forward," Nusrat told the committee.
An IAF flight carrying Indian student Harjot Singh, who was shot in Ukrainian capital Kyiv a few days ago, landed at the Hindon airbase in New Delhi on Monday evening, officials said.
The airline has suspended its international operations till Monday.
The episode has been classified as an 'accident' as it has left serious injuries on passengers and crew members, the sources mentioned.
Flying out of Delhi would become cheaper from Tuesday, with the development fee (DF) charged by the operator of IGI airport here being reduced by Rs 100for domestic and Rs 700 per international passenger.
New Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju has indicated that the new government could review the free passage scheme offered by cash-starved Air India to its 24,000 employees.
The aviation regulator DGCA had on May 21 issued seven bands of ticket pricing with lower and upper fare limits.
Turning down Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel's plea for a fare cut, full service carrier Kingfisher Airlines on Monday said that at present there was no case for reducing air fare.Other airlines like SpiceJet and IndiGo also said that after the recent round of cuts in fuel surcharge, customers should not expect further benefits in the short term, though there would be some advance purchase packages in January.
Air India Express has sacked an employee and ordered penal action against three others after a probe found them guilty of discrimination and favouritism against Delhi-based cabin crew during the last six months.
Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel's dream to make Indian airports an international aviation hub may have to wait.
The eight major unions, representing a cross-section of staffers ranging from pilots, engineers to ground staff, wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Ajit Singh writes a letter to Akhilesh Yadav asking him to send experts to Muthura for the airport.
Protesting delayed payment of salaries and allowances, a section of Air India pilots today warned they would not undertake flying duties from April one if their dues were not cleared by then.
India is on the verge of entering 'big league' in the world aviation scene with the launch of satellite-based navigation system, GAGAN, next year, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said on Tuesday.
Was C M Ibrahim's Rediff Interview the last straw for Deve Gowda?
Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh on Tuesday ruled out any move to regulate airfares saying the government only wants the system to be made transparent.
The government has also introduced procedures for consideration and approval of applications and have set times lines for various stages of processing
SpiceJet announced it has started a five-day "1+1 offer sale" where it was offering one-way base fares starting as low as Rs 899, excluding taxes, on its domestic network.
Even though Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel will move this proposal only on Thursday in the Cabinet meeting, the government is already going ahead with the proposal regardless of the response from other concerned ministries like finance, environment and forests, and tourism and the planning commission.
Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi said the air carriers had sought a meeting with the prime minister.
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