In an unprecedented action, Indian aviation regulator DGCA has directed low-cost airline Spicejet to operate only 50 per cent of its flights for eight weeks. This follows an unusually high number of incidents involving the airline, raising safety concerns. The curtailment of capacity is unlikely to have any commercial impact on the airline owned by entrepreneur Ajay Singh. SpiceJet already operates less than 50 per cent of the flights it had filed for the summer schedule.
They take on Punjab and Sind Bank in the final of the DCM Shriram hockey tournament.
Crisis-hit Go First has sought various interim directions from the National Company Law Tribunal, including restraining lessors from taking back aircraft and regulator DGCA from taking any adverse action against the airline. The Wadia group-owned airline, which has liabilities worth Rs 11,463 crore, has sought voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings and the plea is set to be heard by the Delhi bench of the NCLT on Thursday. Go First has cancelled all its flights for three days starting from May 3.
Only a 5-year-old airline with 20 planes is allowed to fly abroad.
FSSAI is looking to tap the Airport Health Organisation to ensure that such incidents aren't reported in the future.
An airline official said the ban is with immediate effect and is in addition to the 30-day ban it had imposed on the individual earlier.
Aviation regulator DGCA on Monday said it has issued a showcause notice to IndiGo after a fact-finding committee found the airline staff prima facie violated regulations in denying boarding to a specially-abled child at the Ranchi airport on May 7.
The airline should have an accident/serious incident free record of operation.
SpiceJet will now be 'doubly careful' and strengthen inspection of aircraft before they leave to operate flights, airline's Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh said on Wednesday.
The parent company, UB Group, is willing to pump in money.
A trainee co-pilot with Air India was arrested for allegedly using forged marksheets to procure commercial flying licences, taking the total number of people arrested in such cases to 22.
One more pilot was arrested for allegedly using forged marksheets to procure commercial flying licences, taking the total number of people arrested in such cases to 19.
Police on April 5 arrested two staffers of DGCA for allegedly helping people to obtain pilot licences using forged documents.
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 Directorate General of Civil Aviation has sought a report of the incident from the airline.
The incident came to the notice of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) only on January 4 and the latest actions are for violations of various norms.
SpiceJet has failed to 'establish safe, efficient and reliable air services' under the terms of Rule 134 and Schedule XI of the Aircraft Rules, 1937, the notice issued by the DGCA stated.
SpiceJet has been facing operational and financial headwinds in recent times, and it is already under enhanced surveillance of the DGCA.
Heeding to years of pleas and protests by differently-abled people, government has finally come out with detailed rules governing their air travel by making it clear that no airline would refuse to fly them.
The carrier had failed to provide accurate information on a tarmac delay.
In an internal communication to airlines' employees, he reflected on the urinating incident to say that "the repulsion felt by the affected passenger is totally understandable and we share her distress.
The practice of charging for such facilities was launched in 2008.
Prevent highly intoxicated travellers from boarding the aircraft, limit alcohol intake, instal CCTV cameras and sensitise staff about sexual harassment -- are part of the detailed guidelines given by the Delhi Commission for Women to the aviation regulator amid rising incidents of unruly passengers on flights.
The government is keeping its options open.
Boroscopic inspection of all operational engines of all Q400 engines within one week, immediate inspection of Magnetic Chip Detectors (MCD), drawing of engine oil samples every 15 days for analysis and inspection of bleed-off valve screen and housing for evidence of oil wetness in weekly check, are among the other directions.
A continuation of the highest standard by the FAA will be a relief for Indian airlines especially the Tata group which intends to increase Air India flights on India-US routes. US aviation watchdog Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has completed the audit of India's aviation regulator DGCA. Sources said that the FAA team was satisfied with the work and changes in regulations by India and is likely to maintain a Category 1 status rating under its International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) programme.
To fill seats, airlines have resorted to fare wars following the adverse impact on ticket sales, reports Arindam Majumder.
189 people working at 59 Indian airports were found drunk on duty in the first half of this year, marking a 32 per cent year-on-year increase.
Private airlines collecting taxes from travellers other than the passenger service fee will be penalised and made to refund such money, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told Lok Sabha on Thursday. Patel made it clear that the government did not regulate the air fare levied by Airline companies. The government only levies Rs 221 as passenger service fee which is used for security of airports and to cover other related expenses, he said.
This is the second time in less than a week that the watchdog has taken enforcement action against the airline in connection with unruly passenger behaviour.
This took the total number of arrests in such cases to 11.
An Air India pilot has been arrested in Delhi for allegedly using forged marksheets to procure a licence from the airline regulator. This is the second such incident in the past four days. Captain J K Verma was apprehended in Delhi on Saturday night after investigations into a complaint filed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation which claimed that some of the pilots had forged marksheets to get their licence.
Increasing cases of aviators in India complaining of fatigue and in some cases leading to death have spurred the DGCA to bring in draft rules to reduce stress.
Scindia claimed Tharoor is "lost in his esoteric world of thesaurus", and for him "data mining of selective press articles from the internet qualifies as "research".
'While we do some metro-to-metro flying, we have got a lot of metro-to-non-metro cities like Bengaluru-Visakhapatnam, Bengaluru-Bhubaneswar, Bengaluru-Guwahati and Bengaluru-Kochi.'
'The India which was all about glamour and razzmatazz through which he could earn the trust of people of the other India, which was Bharat.'
At the heart of the current controversy is the government's FDI rule
Domestic airlines may soon be able to hedge their risk of jet fuel prices. The government is considering a proposal to allow Indian carriers to hedge the price risk of aviation turbine fuel purchased from oil marketing companies in the country.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has ordered a probe into the incident.
