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.
IndiGo is facing acute shortage of commanders amid aggressive expansion of its fleet. The carrier has more than 210 planes in its fleet.
This is a setback for the divestment process of Air India as no other Indian airline has the capability to fund the process
IndiGo's co-founder and interim CEO Rahul Bhatia said profitability was significantly impacted by costs pressure from the increases in fuel price and the depreciation of rupee as well as competitive fare environment.
IndiGo which has close to 40 per cent market share, at present has 129 aircraft and operates 883 daily flights to 44 destinations. It also has around 400 aircraft on order.
IndiGo is providing digital solutions to everyday problems, attracting customers to digital platforms and engaging start-ups to find solutions
Of the 48 flights, which are not being operated as part of the curtailed schedule, 42 are of IndiGo and six of GoAir.
India's largest carrier IndiGo will cut 20 per cent of its flights due to lower demand as a rapidly spreading coronavirus upends the recovery of air travel. The airline was operating around 1,200 flights as on Saturday. Other airlines are being forced to cancel flights as states tighten restrictions to combat the spread of the virus, and people are dropping last-minute travel plans. Airlines carried 2,518 passengers on 260,251 flights on Saturday, compared to 2,794 passengers on 358,856 flights the day before.
The plan is to charge 30 per cent less. Travel sector executives say if IndiGo is able to do so, it could create a new class of flyers.
According to the annual report, Ronojoy Dutta's remuneration package includes a gross annual salary of $1.27 million, which would be payable in rupees. Also, he is entitled for a commitment bonus payout. In FY20, he received a remuneration of Rs 11.4 crore in his role as CEO and whole-time director.
Rahul Bhatia, a promoter of the company, has been appointed as the interim CEO.
Chadha also said there is a possibility that fog in Delhi and a recent air show in Mumbai may have added to the troubles of the airline.
Initially, starting with a slightly curtailed capacity, the airline will increase the operating capacity over the subsequent months, also reopening selected international flights, depending on the existing international travel guidelines: IndiGo.
The IAF pilots, who are middle-aged, are willing to fly any number of hours, as they are keen to make quick money before they retire
A revamped Air India under the Tata Group will be a real challenge while new airline Akasa Air will be a far less competitive force for the next two-three years, IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta said on Wednesday. Akasa Air, which is backed by former IndiGo president Aditya Ghosh, ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and former Jet Airways CEO Vinay Dube, got the no-objection certificate (NOC) from the Ministry of Civil Aviation on Monday.
Many argue that the airline could achieve its full potential if Nusli Wadia were to run it the way he does Britannia.
The carrier said for domestic flights the fees for cancellation and changes would now be Rs 3,500 and Rs 3,000 respectively, if it was done within three days of the flight's departure. Before this announcement, IndiGo charged a flat rate of Rs 3,000 and Rs 2,500 for cancellation and detail changes on domestic tickets.
This is the second incident in six months of an untoward incident involving IndiGo staff.
Kamra allegedly heckled Goswami, the editor of Republic TV, on IndiGo's Mumbai-Lucknow (6E5317) flight on Tuesday.
The pilot wrote in his letter to airline's management that he was 'disheartened' to learn the carrier took action against the comedian without consulting him and solely on the basis of social media posts.
The civil aviation ministry has mandated airlines and ground-handling companies to phase out airport equipment older than 12 years and switch to electric or fuel-efficient variants by May 2022. While companies have welcomed the ministry's green initiative, they said that the deadline for implementation is tight. This is especially in the wake of financial challenges faced by the aviation sector during the pandemic.
Dutta was president of United Airlines, where he worked for nearly twenty years. He also served as the president of Air Sahara for two years. Moreover, he was an advisor to the restructuring of both Air Canada and US Airways.
The cancelled flights account for almost 10 per cent of the airline's operations
Kamra was banned by India's largest airline for six months on Tuesday for allegedly harassing Goswami on the Mumbai-Lucknow flight. SpiceJet, GoAir and Air India also imposed a similar ban on Kamra without specifying any period.
The introduction of these new flights would help IndiGo cross 650 flights mark as the it would offer a total of 671 flights per day connecting 39 destinations.
Given its network and fleet, it has garnered the highest share of passenger growth.
IndiGo will seek board approval for Dutta's appointment soon. Till then, promoter Rahul Bhatia will continue to act as interim CEO.
The move by four airlines -- IndiGo, Air India, SpiceJet and GoAir -- to suspend the stand-up comedian raises fears that the government can use the no-fly list to settle political scores, undermine the freedom of citizens.
This came even as the airline recorded the fastest domestic passenger growth rate of 26 per cent.
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.
IndiGo said operations of the ATR fleet would be handled by an independent team that would be responsible for in-flight services, dispatch and control, and revenue.
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.
Experts expect a net loss of Rs 26.7 billion for IndiGo and Rs 10.1 billion for SpiceJet in Q1FY21 driven by low traffic volume, low fleet utilisation and poor coverage of fixed costs.
With airlines reporting multiple technical malfunction incidents, aviation regulator DGCA on Monday said it conducted spot checks and found that there is an insufficient number of engineering personnel certifying planes of various carriers before their departure. Before each departure, an aircraft is checked and certified by an aircraft maintenance engineer (AME). The DGCA has now issued guidelines for airlines on the deployment of AME personnel and directed them to comply by July 28.
Move aimed at giving more headroom to foreign investors.
Amid a massive global outage that hit operations of airlines, banks and businesses across the globe, Microsoft on Friday said that it is aware of the issue affecting Windows devices due to an update from a third-party software platform.
From croissants to Galouti kebabs and Medu vada, Indian carriers, both low-cost and full-service, are revising their in-flight menus to offer passengers a differentiated fare as competition is heating up amid the boom in air travel with the waning of Covid-19. On Monday, Air India, which was taken over by the Tata Group on January 27, unveiled its new domestic in-flight menu comprising gourmet meals, new appetizers, desserts, and local dishes. Air India's economy class passengers would now be served dishes such as Mushroom cheese omelette, Dry jeera aloo wedges, and Garlic tossed spinach and corn for breakfast, and Vegetable biryani, Malabar chicken curry, and mixed vegetable poriyal for lunch.
"We offer our sincere regrets to the affected family for the unfortunate experience and as a small token of our appreciation of their lifelong dedication would like to offer to purchase an electric wheelchair for their son," he added.
Key stimuli of the government's relief package will be a tax break on jet fuel, waiver of parking and landing charges at airports for the next six months and deferment of payment to oil companies by three months.
Airline to deploy around 50 planes in the next seven months
