Tata was speaking to reporters after he, along with Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong and Tata-SIA Airlines Chairman Prasad Menon, met the minister.
'It is not as bad an airline as it is made out to be: We serve wonderful food, the leg space is more, our cabin crew is warm and friendly.' 'The customer needs to be apprised of these things.'
Part-I of this three-part series dives into Delhi-NCR's SPR, Sohna, Dwarka Expressway, and Jewar Airport leading the charge.
In March 2020, soon after the cessation of airline operations globally and domestic flights within India, many in the aviation sector had written Delhi-headquartered low-fare airline SpiceJet's obituary well before that of most of its rivals. Unlike IndiGo, GoAir (now rechristened Go First), Vistara and even AirAsia India, SpiceJet did not have founders or backers with deep pockets. Although it is the only other listed carrier in India besides IndiGo, it was considered the weakest and the least likely to survive the pandemic. But chairman and managing director Ajay Singh surprised everyone by not only surviving but taking the lead on many fronts. Within a few weeks of the scheduled flight stoppage, SpiceJet was doing as many charter flights as it could get hold of.
Tharoor, who is leading the all-party delegation to the Americas during his Bogota visit, had expressed dismay over the South American country's stance during a press conference on Thursday.
The move follows the recent probe report by the United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) that highlighted safety concerns involving Boeing 737 aircraft equipped with Collins Aerospace SVO-730 Rudder Rollout Guidance Actuators.
'If the Trump administration could gain access to the nuclear weapons, they would be satisfied -- at least they could control them.'
The government is planning to liberalise the terms and conditions for the sale of the national carrier. The Centre is still pursuing the option of selling the airline's subsidiaries before the airline itself, in order to deal with an outstanding debt of around Rs 27,000 crore.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh says India achieved all objectives of Operation Sindoor, emphasizing that escalating the situation to war with Pakistan was not the aim. He highlighted India's fight against cross-border terrorism and the successful exposure of Pakistan's air defense system.
The tragic incident saw 241 of the 242 lives on board the London-bound Boeing 787-8 perish, along with 29 people on the ground as the aircraft plunged into a medical college campus shortly after takeoff.
Parulkar was commissioned in the IAF in March 1963. In past, he held various appointments, including as a Flying Instructor at the Air Force Academy, according to the excerpt.
Apple commenced the sale of its newly launched iPhone 17 series across India on Thursday, prompting large crowds and long queues outside Apple flagship stores in Mumbai and Delhi, as tech enthusiasts gathered to be among the first to purchase the latest devices.
The Congress's performance in the Lok Sabha elections showed that it may be down but not out, and Modi is determined to ensure that in the next round in 2029, it is consigned to irrelevance, points out Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Two parliamentary panels have castigated the government over the precarious health of Air India, with one of them saying "unscrupulous and vested interests" had worked overtime to "suck the life out" of the national carrier.
On Friday, the Alaska Airlines plane's outer section, including a window, fell off mid-air.
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.
Investors who constantly hop between 'top-performing' funds often end up earning far lower returns than the very funds they invest in -- simply because they enter late and exit early. Best investors don't chase returns, they chase discipline, says Ramalingam Kalirajan.
Air India must tighten costs to comes out of the red or it wil perish in no time, says experts.
This is seen as the first concrete opportunity to break HAL's monopoly in combat aircraft manufacturing, potentially opening the door to a private-sector fighter jet producer.
SpiceJet, Air India Express and IndiGo will operate special flights from Hungarian capital Budapest and Romania's Bucharest on Monday and Tuesday to evacuate Indians stranded in Ukraine due to the Russian military offensive.
India on Thursday expressed "deep concern" over the steep escalation of violence between Israel and Palestine and asked both sides to resume direct talks at the earliest and avoid taking actions that may threaten the security of the region.
The Supreme Court has expressed concern over the increasing pollution levels during winter and has suggested that the Punjab government arrest farmers who engage in stubble burning. The court believes that this action would send a strong message and help curb air pollution.
The sources said, without naming anyone, the party leadership sent a "clear message" during the meeting that this is not a time of airing individual views but for amplifying the party's stand.
Indian players mourn Ahmedabad airplane crash victims before intra-squad match
T20 Mumbai final: Teams observe minute's silence, wear black armbands for Ahmedabad crash victims
The Foxconn move may have been prompted by the Chinese government's focus on strengthening its supply chain.
Demanding an inquiry into the purchase of 111 new aircraft by national carrier Air India, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has said the proposal was the root cause of the airline's financial woes.
Reddy, who represents Andhra Pradesh's Anantapur seat in the Lok Sabha, reported late for the flight and therefore, was not allowed to board it, a source said.
Integration of workforce has been a thorny issue and a cause of litigation and strikes.
These views were expressed by Air India chairman and managing director Arvind Jadhav at his meetings with leaders of 14 unions, where he is understood to have articulated various scenarios which could arise if costs were not managed well.
This is a third of Rs 33,992 crore debt that was to be passed on to the new owner during last year's failed divestment process.
India's domestic air passenger traffic nearly doubled to 1.25 crore in January compared to 64.08 lakh recorded in the year-ago period, according to official data released on Monday. In January, IndiGo saw its domestic market share decline for the fifth consecutive month at 54.6 per cent. It carried 68.47 lakh passengers last month.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season has been officially suspended due to escalating military tensions between India and Pakistan.
Year after year, the people in charge and the airline's multiple stakeholders spoke about the need to transform the national carrier into a premier airline. But their plans, instead of taking Air India to the promised heights, brought it down.
A 17-year-old boy in Ahmedabad, who unwittingly captured a viral video of Thursday's devastating Air India AI 171 plane crash, has given his statement to the police, officials said on Saturday.
The commerce ministry on Friday held consultations with key stakeholders, including shipping lines, exporters, container firms, and other departments, to assess the impact of the Iran-Israel conflict on India's overseas trade, an official said. The meeting was chaired by Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra condemned the killing of five Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza, calling it a "heinous crime" and expressing solidarity with Palestinians.
The Tatas have collectively increased their aggregate airlines seat capacity across domestic and international markets by an impressive 20 per cent, going from 64.03 million in calendar year (CY) 2023 to 76.72 million in the current CY, according to data shared by the group that controls Air India in which Vistara has been merged recently. The Tatas also run Air India Express in which Air Asia India has been merged.
China and Pakistan are in a tight strategic alliance. India must deal with them one at a time, but be prepared in case they decide to collude, points out Shekhar Gupta.
According to the DRDO chairman, the BrahMos missile, primarily launched from Sukhoi Mk 1, was used during the offensive phase.
