The DGCA has asked airlines to inspect the fuel switch locking system in their Boeing 787 and 737 planes after a preliminary probe report into the Air India crash found that the switches were cut off before the accident.
IndiGo has delivered impressive operating performance in the past six quarters as it navigated cost and capacity challenges. It has managed to mitigate the impact of faulty engine-related groundings. The airline has also managed costs related to grounding, expensive secondary leasing, increasing airport charges, and pilot compensation inflation and delivered stronger yields and spreads.
Air India has cancelled eight flights, including four international services, on Friday due to enhanced maintenance and operational reasons, the airline said.
'We consider everyone who lost someone in this tragedy as part of our family -- now and forever.'
Following a significant power outage, operations at the London Heathrow (LHR) have been suspended till 2359 hours (local time) on March 21 (05.30 am March 22, IST).
The three officials include a divisional vice president of the airline, as per the DGCA order.
While Air India cancelled six international flights due to aviation regulator DGCA subjecting its Dreamliner fleet to enhanced checks, the Ahmedabad-London Gatwick one was cancelled due to unavailability of aircraft, the airline said.
The DGCA has issued multiple fines and warnings to Air India over the past three years, flagging serious concerns in flight operations, cockpit discipline, and internal accountability.
Air India reiterated that its priority remains extending assistance to the families.
More than 300 flights have been cancelled and at least 25 airports, including Srinagar, have been temporarily shut for operations amid restrictions in the wake of the armed forces launching missile attacks on terror targets in Pakistan on Wednesday morning.
'Within five years, we should be achieving more on the international front than what it took most airlines 15 to 20 years back.'
C P Rizwan led the UAE to its first win in a T20 World Cup match, played 42 ODIs and 18 T20Is before he retired this week. 'I end my international career with a heavy heart, but I feel proud of what I have achieved,' Rizwan tells K R Nayar.
Air India's flight to London from Ahmedabad, which has started operating with a new code post the June 12 crash of AI-171, was cancelled on Tuesday due to "operational issues", an airport official said.
Over the past eight months, a team of 80 people has been diligently working to harmonise operating procedures across four airlines run by the Tata group, as part of two mergers, revealed Campbell Wilson, Air India's chief executive officer (CEO), on Friday. The Tata group is consolidating its aviation business by merging four airlines into two: Air India and Vistara are merging to form a single full-service carrier, while AIX Connect and Air India Express are combining to create a unified low-cost carrier (as a subsidiary of Air India).
'...rectification has to happen then and there, and that takes additional time.'
'We will continue supporting those affected long after the work in Ahmedabad is done.'
Over 600 slots at three major airports - Heathrow, Dubai and New York's JFK International - could be at stake.
'Delhi airport handles 1,450 aircraft movements per day. Of these, 114 daily movements will be cancelled during the runway upgrade.'
Tech tycoon Azim Premji's global investment arm, Manipal Group Chief Ranjan Pai's family office and 360 ONE Asset have sought approval from fair trade regulator CCI to acquire stakes in domestic carrier Akasa Air's parent company SNV Aviation. "The proposed transaction involves the acquisition of certain shareholding by each of PIOF, Claypond and 360 Fund (through its various schemes and affiliates) in Akasa Air," said a notice filed with the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Wednesday.
Amid mounting safety concerns and the cancellation of at least 66 flights that were to be operated with Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, DGCA officials held a detailed review meeting with top Air India and Air India Express executives.
Besides, the carrier is having a technical stop in Kolkata for some of the North America flights from Delhi, they added.
The lawsuit has compensatory and punitive damages against the defendants for the wrongful deaths of four passengers on flight 171, US-based law firm The Lanier Law Firm said in a statement.
Air India pilots said Ahmedabad airport has long been known for bird activity near the runway, which could have contributed to the incident.
The primary drivers: Geopolitical disruptions inflating fuel and operational costs, and a surge in travel demand.
Air India Chairman N Chandrasekaran on Thursday said the airlines is doing everything to assist the emergency response teams at the plane crash site and will provide all necessary support to those impacted by the mishap.
The international cargo operations of two major carriers - IndiGo and Air India Group (Air India and Vistara) - are experiencing opposite trajectories despite both the airlines significantly expanding their international flight offerings over the past year. During the fourth quarter of 2023-24, IndiGo's international non-passenger cargo business declined to 6,848 tonnes. This is an 18.2 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) decrease, according to data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)
An Air India passenger allegedly urinated on a fellow traveller during a flight from Delhi to Bangkok on Wednesday. Air India has reported the incident to the authorities (DGCA) and is investigating the matter. The airline has also stated that its crew followed all laid down procedures in handling the situation and offered assistance to the aggrieved passenger.
Management and leadership changes, in addition to synchronising operations between all its airlines, are showing visible results for Air India. Data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) show that there has been a marked improvement in key operational parameters of Air India after the Tata group took complete control of the national airline in January. One of the most dramatic improvements has been noticed in Air India's passenger load factor (PLF) - a crucial metric of capacity utilisation of an airline's fleet that shows how many seats it has been able to fill on every flight.
The Indian Commercial Pilots' Association (ICPA) defends the crew of the crashed AI 171 flight, rejecting insinuations of pilot suicide and calling for a fair investigation.
The airline industry is projected to register a net profit of $25.7 billion in 2024 as more normal growth is expected in both passenger and cargo segments, global grouping IATA said on Wednesday. For 2023, the net profit is estimated at $23.3 billion, significantly higher than the $9.8 billion projected by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in June this year. IATA has more than 300 airlines as members.
West Asian carriers are up against Air India and IndiGo in the battle for seats on lucrative international routes.
Pilot groups have accused the AAIB of portraying the pilots as responsible for the incident, with vague and selective presentation of cockpit conversations.
Destinations like Coorg, Munnar, the Western Ghats, and parts of the North East, are at their scenic best in the monsoon.
Airfares have nearly doubled in a matter of days on routes hit by the cancellation of 200 weekly flights linking Mumbai airport to 12 cities. The fares have soared as high as 193 per cent following a recent government order to cancel flights to ease "persistent congestion" that was causing delays. Aside from the reduction in flights on 12 routes, two destinations - Hubli and Jabalpur - have lost connectivity with Mumbai since last week, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium's data reviewed
Red Square and VDNKh easily rank among the most striking places I've visited -- both for their historical significance and architectural splendour.
My admiration for Russian culture, vision and ambition grew with every step as I clocked the miles, Nitin Sathe tells us after a visit to Moscow and St Petersburg.
Lightning claims more lives in India annually than any other extreme weather event. Between April and July this year alone, 1,621 people died due to lightning strikes.
Air India has covered a lot of ground since privatisation and its global coverage will further increase in the years ahead, the airline's chief Campbell Wilson said on Wednesday. He also said the interior refit of the single-aisle fleet, serving domestic and short-haul international destinations, is underway, and will be completed by mid-2025.
Colonel Sofiya Qureshi revealed that 300 to 400 drones were deployed across 36 locations, with several being shot down by Indian forces using both kinetic and non-kinetic methods.
'We don't give any guidance about profitability. We have internal targets but we don't discuss them publicly.'
The trails of mega-mergers, tailwinds of expanding fleets, flights and airports will dot the fast-growing Indian aviation firmament in 2025, though the dark clouds of supply chain woes will persist longer. Also, new airline takeoffs, the future trajectory of revised norms to tackle pilot fatigue and efforts to reduce carbon emissions will be on the radar.
