The recent spate of technical glitches in aircraft has prompted the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to issue an order on July 18, making aircraft maintenance engineers (AMEs) with category B1/B2 licences the final authorities in certifying planes. This has put the spotlight on the availability of such personnel. According to the order, airlines were resorting to frequent one-off authorisation by the Category A certifying staff at transit stations, which is not in line with existing regulatory provisions.
India's aviation regulator DGCA on Thursday lifted the ban on Boeing 737 Max planes' commercial flight operations after almost two-and-half years. On March 13, 2019, all Boeing 737 Max planes were grounded in India by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) after the crash of an Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max plane on March 10 near Addis Ababa which had left 157 people, including four Indians, dead. Aircraft manufacturer Boeing has been modifying the 737 Max plane since March 2019 so that various countries' regulators, including the DGCA, permit its passenger flight operations again.
The government is ready to support Air India, but wants the airline to improve its performance.
In their new venture, Tata SIA Airlines Ltd, Tata Sons would hold 51 per cent stake and Singapore Airlines 49 per cent.
Besides the not-so-hidden unease between Modi and Adityanath, Modi chose to address the Lok Sabha to ensure that he could personally claim all the kudos, observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The decision came following the intervention of Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi who met Petroleum Minister S Jaipal Reddy to sort out the issue.
Overseas airlines can operate unlimited number of flights into and out of India.
In a circular issued on Tuesday, Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation said it was "suspending travel to and from the following countries: (India, Brazil and Argentina) including any person who has been in any of the mentioned countries above in the last 14 days prior to their arrival to the Kingdom".
In signs of increasing differences, Jet Airways' winning bidder Jalan Kalrock Consortium on Tuesday asked the airline monitoring committee's authorised representative Ashish Chhawcharia not to issue any communication on behalf of the grounded carrier without approval of all the members of the committee. Amid the continuing uncertainty over the fate of Jet Airways, which shuttered operations in April 2019, the consortium on Tuesday wrote a letter to Chhawcharia. The latest development comes more than a week after Chhawchharia reportedly shot off a letter to Sanjiv Kapoor, asking him to refrain from using the title of CEO as he was only a CEO-designate.
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 Directorate General of Civil Aviation has refused to validate the licenses of about 25 foreign pilots operating in India, owing to their failure in English proficiency.
The home ministry has given security clearance to Air India CEO-designate Campbell Wilson, paving the way for him to take charge of the airline, according to a senior official. The appointment of Wilson as the chief executive officer and managing director of Air India was announced by Tata Sons on May 12. Tata Sons took over the loss-making carrier on January 27.
"We have appointed SBI Caps. Soon, we would be getting feedback on what would be the short-, medium- and long-term restructuring required for Air India," Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said while speaking at an event on India Aviation 2010 international exhibition in New Delhi on Wednesday.
According to the people aware of the matter, there are currently 10 different variants of COVID-19 in the country, with the latest being BF.7.
Fliers may have to shell out more with the government mulling to impose a two per cent cess on air tickets
India's domestic aviation market has clocked a growth rate of 22 per cent in the last one year.
Rather than minimising competition, the airlines competed head-on in several routes and tried at one time to grab the market share at the price of profitability. The study, sponsored by Observer Research Foundation, asks government to ensure a level playing field by providing various tax reductions and concessions.
Over 30 passengers have suffered ear and nose-bleed after the crew on Jet Airways flight 9W 697 reportedly forgot to select a switch that helps maintain cabin air pressure
These measures follow the Germanwings crash last month.
Small aircraft operators want better infra at regional airports.
The directives will apply to both passenger and cargo planes, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said in a statement on Wednesday.
Improving the infrastructure, including night landing facility at the airports is undertaken by the Airports Authority of India depending upon factors like commercial viability, traffic demand, operational requirements, demand from airlines and technical feasibility
The grading system would apply to all airports, including under private developers and the Airports Authority of India, Civil Aviation Secretary Ashok Chawla said at a seminar on Wednesday.
Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu said appropriate action would be taken in case anything is 'found wanting'.
The government on Wednesday issued new guidelines for international arrivals amid the spread of mutant variants of coronavirus in many countries.
The capability of drones to evade radar, wreak devastation at strategic installations and transport weapons to terrorists has been a continuous concern for the country's security establishment, and in a maiden incident, these unmanned vehicles were used to strike an Indian Air Force base in Jammu on Sunday, officials said.
Air India will very soon get funds from the government for its day to day operations and will even place orders for a couple of aircraft
You may soon be asked to take off your shoes and belts, and jewellery if you are wearing, at the security check counters of the Indira Gandhi International airport in New Delhi.
Boeing Company on Monday said the Indian civil aviation sector would require 856 new commercial jet airplanes worth over $72 billion over the next 20 years.
They say it will have severe impact on their financial strength
Both the Ambani brothers use this helipad daily to travel to their offices in Navi Mumbai. It sees 15-20 flights daily.
Air India and IndiGo have already suspended Kamra from flying until further notice and six months, respectively.
The consortium of UAE-based businessman Murari Lal Jalan and London's Kalrock Capital -- which has won the bid to revive Jet Airways -- on Monday said it expects to start operating the airline by the summer of 2021.
Use cases for drones are, however, immense - industrial inspections, geospatial surveys, agricultural surveys, and general surveillance and security.
Many states like Maharashtra, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu were opposed to opening up of their airports in view of rising cases of the coronavirus infection.
AI Express operates 195 weekly flights, mostly from Kerala.
Formation of profit-making units and shifting of staff are key components of the turnaround plan.
Of 1,400 pilots the airline has, 200 have quit in the past few months because of salary delays.
None of the 55 passengers or five crew members was injured, they said, adding the DGCA has started an investigation.
In a relief for people travelling long distances, the Indian Railways is set to resume serving cooked meals on trains, a service which was discontinued in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
