Aviation regulator DGCA on Tuesday started the special audit of the facilities of Go First, which has sought approval for restarting operations. A team of officials from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) started the special audit of the facilities of Go First in Mumbai on Tuesday, according to an airline executive. The audit of the facilities will be done on Wednesday also.
Abroad, airlines face suspension or hefty fines for unpaid dues or flight cancellations.
Indian carriers transported 12.8 million domestic passengers in March 2023, a year-on-year growth of 21.41 per cent. India's largest carrier IndiGo shored up its domestic market share from 53.8 per cent in Q4 of FY22 to 55.7 per cent in Q4 of FY23, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) data released on Monday.
The civil aviation ministry on Friday said the aircraft carrying President Pratibha Patil never lost contact with the air traffic control while flying to Aizawl and was put on an alternate radio frequency immediately after an Air Traffic Control monitor suffered technical glitch.
The move comes after the civil aviation ministry decided to allow Indian carriers to charge passengers for add-on services like their foreign counterparts.
This isn't the first instance of Vistara facing scrutiny from the regulator over improper pilot training.
Various airlines in India have engaged nearly 1,000 foreign pilots. However, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has advised all scheduled, non-scheduled and general aviation operators to submit their plan to phase out foreign pilots and replace them by trained Indian pilots. As per the plan, all the foreign pilots are likely to be repatriated in about 5 years time. Government has taken steps to reduce the gap between demand and supply of skilled India pilots.
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.
Scheduled international passenger services continue to remain suspended in India since March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Arun Mishra takes over as Director General of Civil Aviation at a time when questions are being raised on its leniency with airlines. Being also grossly understaffed, it faces an International Civil Aviation Organisation safety audit this December. The new DG talks about these and other issues.
It is not often that the head of a regulator is removed by the nodal ministry, even after the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), headed by the prime minister, clears an extension.
Ajit Singh says the govt does not intend to regulate fares but in the larger public interest, transparency is required.
The coronavirus-induced suspension of scheduled international passenger flights has been extended till October 31, India's aviation regulator DGCA said on Tuesday. "However, international scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on a case-to-case basis," the Directorate General of Civil Aviation added. Scheduled international passenger services have been suspended in India since March 23, 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Several countries like the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Australia and Singapore have already banned travellers from India as well as other South Asian countries.
Indian airlines will operate a total of 23,732 flights every week during the winter schedule, which is more than 8 per cent higher than the year-ago period, amid rising air traffic demand. The winter schedule 2023 -- effective from October 29 to March 30 next year -- for the scheduled carriers has been approved by aviation regulator DGCA. Go First, which stopped flying from May 3 and is undergoing an insolvency resolution process, will not be having any operations during the winter schedule.
In the first half of this year, 33 pilots and 97 cabin-crew members failed their compulsory alcohol tests, which are conducted either before or after flights, according to data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). In contrast, in the first half of 2022, the DGCA data recorded only 14 pilots and 54 cabin-crew members being identified as intoxicated while on duty. This data has been reviewed by Business Standard. As per the DGCA rules, pilots and cabin-crew members have to undergo pre-flight breath-analyzer tests.
Indigo has zero competition on 61.2 per cent of its 838 domestic routes.
A Kingfisher pilot, who had allegedly flew a woman in cockpit in violation of safety rules from Delhi to Mumbai on Sunday last, has been taken off the duty pending a probe by the airline.
Kingfisher Airlines, which is already facing a safety audit by the country's civil aviation regulator DGCA, on Thursday came under fresh scrutiny following reports that one of its pilots flew a woman in the cockpit in violation of rules.
Kingfisher Airlines, which is already facing a safety audit by the country's civil aviation regulator DGCA, on Thursday came under fresh scrutiny following reports that one of its pilots flew a woman in the cockpit in violation of rules.
Leading private airline Jet Airways has put on its board a director whose security clearance is still awaited, contrary to stipulated norms of Director General of Civil Aviation.
The teams of officials and independent experts would begin inspection from April 18 and submit their reports within three months, official sources said on Monday.
A near miss situation was averted at the IGI airport on Monday evening when the pilot of a small plane entered the runway after but an alert ATC directed an incoming aircraft to go around and another to abort take-off.
SpiceJet is the only Boeing 737 MAX operator in India, with 13 aircraft of the type in its fleet and a total of 205 planes on order.
SpiceJet said its flight heading to Jabalpur returned to Delhi on Saturday after the crew members observed smoke in the cabin at around 5,000-feet altitude.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has released a draft procedure that calls for testing pilots, other aviation personnel and crew members for psychoactive substances before they take to the skies. The Indian civil aviation regulator has sought comments from stakeholders over the next 30 days before issuing a regulation to this effect. Asking airlines and airports to do random checks on crew and air traffic controllers, DGCA proposed that violators be suspended for a minimum of three years or their licence be permanently cancelled as maximum punishment.
The manufacturer of Bell helicopters has offered its assistance to authorities in probing the crash of the Bell-430 chopper which claimed the lives of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajashekhar Reddy and four others.
A passenger on a New York-New Delhi American Airlines flight allegedly urinated on a fellow male passenger in a drunken state, sources said on Sunday.
A cabin crew member of the flight had filed a complaint with the DGCA about the pilot allowing a female friend into the cockpit.
The recent Cabinet approval to private and greenfield airport policies has enhanced the powers of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which is now one of the key licensing authorities for almost all future airport projects in the country.
Sun Network chairman Kalanithi Maran and his company, Kal Airways Pvt Ltd, which was incorporated on May 6, are the acquirers of the airline.
DGCA Deputy Director P K Chattopadhyay will head the probe. He has been appointed the Inspector of the Inquiry, official sources said.
The team from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, which is probing the Air India plane crash that claimed 158 lives near the Mangalore airport on Saturday, has been divided into four groups to look at a particular aspect of the crash. The four teams will look into engineering and wreckage, operations, air traffic control and aerodrome.A release from the civil aviation ministry states that wreckage group has further been divided into smaller groups.
After doing so to Kingfisher Airlines, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has issued showcause notices to carriers IndiGo and SpiceJet for having allegedly cancelled flights without informing passengers.
The pilot, who was the first officer on the flight, landed the aircraft at the Indore airport recently without first getting the requisite training in a simulator, they said.
The top court also sought the assistance of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who was present in the case, in formulating the standard operating procedure (SOP) and fixed the plea for hearing after the summer vacation in July.
The airport and user development fees will be kept out of it.
So far, carcasses of 32 flamingos have been recovered from Ghatkopar area, the police said.
Taking note of the incident, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel ordered a probe by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and appealed to VIPs not to pressurise pilots to operate flights.
An A320neo plane of Tata Group-run Air India returned to the Mumbai airport just 27 minutes after takeoff as one of its engines shut down midair due to a technical issue, sources said on Friday.