Employees of Go First, which has filed for bankruptcy, hope that the airline will fly out of the crisis with government support but some are already scouting for work. Some Go First pilots have joined airlines in West Asia in recent weeks and others have approached IndiGo, India's largest domestic airline. Calls to IndiGo's human resources and operations department increased after Go First said on Tuesday it will suspend flights for three days starting May 3, sources said.
Indian airlines flew over 4.5 per cent more passengers in the 11 months of this year compared to the same period last year, with IndiGo retaining its top position in market share.
Low cost start-up carrier IndiGo is set to take off in August and the carrier aims to break even within 18 months of its flights being operational.
Airbus will increase sourcing of components from India, which offers plenty of opportunities, according to the aircraft maker's CEO Guillaume Faury. The European major, which has bagged huge aircraft orders from IndiGo and Air India, doubled its sourcing of components and services from India to 1 billion euros during the period from 2019-2023, he said.
In a December 2012 interview, Ratan Tata, then preparing to step down as chairman of Tata Sons, expressed doubts about the Tata group re-entering the aviation sector, calling it a space plagued by "destructive competition". But beneath that frustration lay nearly two decades of failed attempts to conquer the Indian skies. In 1994, Tata, along with Singapore Airlines, had plans to launch a joint venture (JV) airline in India.
If all 102 grounded planes could fly, there will theoretically be 400 more Delhi-Mumbai flights every day.
Responding to that, Rama Rao suggested the airlines recruit more staff who can speak the local language like Telugu, Tamil, Kannada on regional routes.
Whatever the final outcome of this unhappy episode, one thing is clear: a glass once cracked cannot be fixed. The trust is gone forever and the relationship between two old friends lies in tatters. For now, IndiGo, the airline, will have to learn to soar with two angry and distracted commanders, says Anjuli Bhargava.
'Within five years, we should be achieving more on the international front than what it took most airlines 15 to 20 years back.'
Prepare it fresh and serve it on the same day.
The number of domestic air travelers in India grew 2.42 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in April, reaching 13.2 million, according to data by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday.
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.
The country's largest domestic budget carrier IndiGo on Wednesday announced the appointment of Pieter Elbers as its chief executive officer, replacing incumbent Ronojoy Dutta. Seventy-one year old Dutta, who came to helm the airline in January 2019, has decided to retire on September 30, after guiding the airline through the turbulent Covid period, IndiGo said in a statement. Elbers' appointment, which is subject to regulatory approvals, will be effective from on or before October 1, it said.
The country's largest airline IndiGo and Air India have asked passengers to reach Delhi airport at least 3.5 hours prior to domestic departures.
In 14 days, more than 350 flights operated by the Indian carriers have received hoax bomb threats. Most of the threats were issued through social media.
Just over a three-hour flight from Delhi, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Georgia have seen a big jump in visitors.
The threats via microblogging platform X came a day after three international flights originating from Mumbai received bomb threats, causing trouble to hundreds of passengers and airline crew.
IndiGo on Wednesday reported a net loss of Rs 1,681 crore in the quarter ending March due to Omicron wave, high fuel costs and weakening rupee. This year's Q4 loss was 46.6 per cent more than the loss incurred by the airline in the corresponding period a year ago, the airline's statement mentioned. India's largest airline's total net loss of 2021-22 was Rs 6,161 crore as compared to Rs 5,806 crore net loss that it incurred in 2020-21, it mentioned.
Air Deccan, which was renamed Simplifly Deccan after the merger with Kingfisher last year, is now called Kingfisher Red. According to the data released by the civil aviation ministry on Thursday, IndiGo's market share is 10.3 per cent, while that of Air Deccan trailed behind at 10.2 per cent.
Notwithstanding the sweltering heat engulfing major cities, travellers can find solace in the steady airfares to popular summer destinations like Srinagar, Bagdogra, and Kochi. According to airline executives, capacity increases and moderate demand have kept spot airfares from scorching cities like Delhi on a par with the same period last year.
Failure to reinstate salary even two years after the drastic cuts has landed the airline industry in a massive industrial relation crisis. While employees of Air India had organised a strike back in 2011, it is for the first time that private airlines are facing serious stress related to workers. IndiGo witnessed two of them, back to back. In the first instance, around 50 per cent of the IndiGo flights were delayed as a large number of crew members went on mass sick leave, apparently to participate in a rival airline's walk-in job interview.
Passenger traffic to Lakshadweep more than doubled from April to June this year.
The airline demanded more than a thousand rupees for him to carry 41 inch hockey stick
NCPCR chairperson Priyank Kanoongo also asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to initiate an inquiry in the matter and take necessary action against the airline and its manager.
According to flight radar, the Indian plane with a ground speed of 454 knots entered north of Lahore at about 7:30 pm on Saturday and returned to India at 8:01 pm, the Dawn newspaper reported.
The proposal to issue new rules has come just six days after the DGCA said it has imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on IndiGo airline for denying boarding to a specially abled child at Ranchi airport on May 7.
IndiGo's president Aditya Ghosh shares the growth plan.
A doctor at heart, always! Great gesture by my colleague, PM Narendra Modi tweeted.
A video clip of the heated exchange onboard the flight on December 16 was shared on social media on Wednesday.
The incident took place on Thursday when the aircraft was taxing out for take off with 98 passengers on board and the flight was cancelled, it said.
Opposition Congress targeted Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya, amid reports that the passenger, who accidentally opened the emergency exit of the plane was the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha chief.
IndiGo barred a specially-abled child from boarding a flight as he was in "a state of panic"
Experts say the margin was impacted primarily because of currency depreciation, rise in the price of aviation turbine fuel and pressure on account of fare wars in the home market.
Protocols for the Bomb Threat Assessment Committee (BTAC), convened in the event of a bomb threat call to an aircraft or airport, have been tweaked to better tackle the spate of the ongoing 'random' Internet-based threats being made to various Indian airlines, official sources said Tuesday.
The DGCA has derostered the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) who was on duty at the time of the incident on Saturday, while IndiGo has initiated a probe into the matter
With 262 planes, IndiGo operated over 1,500 daily flights prior to March 24 but is now operating around 350 scheduled flights a day, which is putting a pressure on its finances.
Flights from Delhi or Bengaluru, while they may still fly over Iran, depending on the route, have alternative paths that may take them through Central Asia or northern routes.
'A passenger was deplaned by the police at the Delhi airport from Raipur-bound flight 6E 204. Some other passengers have also decided to deboard on their own accord,' it added.
IndiGo had on May 9 said the boy was denied permission to board the Ranchi-Hyderabad flight as he was visibly in panic.
The flight was operating from Delhi to Doha in Qatar and was diverted to Karachi in Pakistan.
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