A medical summary issued by the Civil Aviation ministry said most of the AI pilots, who called in sick, were neither found at home by doctors sent by the airline nor reported to doctors empanelled by the carrier.
The ministry and the civil aviation regulator have said the government will consider the airline's request for slots as per existing policy.
All airports and air carriers are being informed to be ready for operations from May 25. SOPs for passenger movement are also being separately issued by the ministry of civil aviation.
The National Company Law Tribunal on Tuesday approved the Jalan-Kalrock Consortium's resolution plan for the bankrupt Jet Airways.
Jayanth Pooviah, director and chief executive officer of Deccan Charters, confirmed the development.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Priyanka Chaturvedi on Wednesday took potshots at the rival Shiv Sena over its minister not finding a place in the reconstituted NITI Aayog.
This is the first time an airline has made such a request to the ministry after the Tata-Singapore Airlines deal fell through in 2001 (Singapore Airlines was to have a 49 per cent share in the joint venture). The Indian government does not allow direct or indirect investments in domestic airlines, a move that was meant to protect domestic carriers. Mallya's request marks a sharp change from domestic players' stand.
An independent probe from the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) is unlikely in the Jalgaon train tragedy due to the negligence of passengers, according to railway sources. The tragedy occurred when 12 passengers were killed after stepping down from their train due to a fire rumor and were struck by another train. Experts say the CRS probe is unlikely because the passengers' actions were deemed negligent. While the CRS is typically involved in serious railway accidents, the 1998 rules allow for discretion when deaths or injuries result from passenger negligence. Passengers had ample time to move to safer locations but remained on the side tracks, ultimately leading to the tragic incident.
Bangalore's information and biotechnology majors have again trained their guns at the government over the closure of the existing HAL airport.
Premier British carrier Virgin Atlantic took the lead in introducing day time flights out of Delhi. British Airways followed suit by introducing its additional flight during day time. German carrier Lufthansa now also operates day time flights to Munich out of Delhi and Mumbai, apart from its night services to Frankfurt.
In a major boost to private airlines, especially IndiGo and SpiceJet, the civil aviation ministry has lifted the freeze on them to expand abroad.
The airport operations are likely to be disrupted as the employees have threatened to start an indefinite 'non-cooperation movement' from march 12 after the government today rejected their demands for continuing operations of Bangalore and Hyderabad airports. The existing airports in both the metros are to be closed down once the new greenfield airports launch their operations.
Amid the demand from the Union civil aviation ministry for induction of Rs 1,200 crore (Rs 12 billion) as fresh equity into Air India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said the government is actively considering helping the national carrier.
Confirming the circulation of the note, official sources said the Union Cabinet may take up the issue within the first fortnight of 2012.
Air India is the second Indian carrier to get a large bailout this year.
The civil aviation ministry is soon going to move the Union Cabinet on the proposal to allow private domestic carriers, now operating to SAARC countries, to fly to ASEAN nations.
Air, rail and road traffic was severely affected in New Delhi on Monday as dense fog reduced the visibility to almost zero. According to senior officials of the Indian Metrological Department, the disruption is likely to continue for a few more days. There is little hope of the weather improving and it is likely to hit traffic in Delhi and neighbouring states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab, officials said.
On Sunday, Rashtiya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh was sworn in as Union Cabinet Minister. And the next move of the Congress, in the run up to the Uttar Pradesh elections, is to grant reservations to Jats in the central list of Other Backward Classes. Neerja Chowdhury analyses
The commercial flight operations of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed Akasa Air will be launched in July instead of June. "As we get closer to the airline launch date, we can now confirm refined estimates on our timelines. "We expect our first aircraft delivery by early June 2022, with the intention to start commercial operations in July 2022," Vinay Dube, CEO, Akasa Air, told PTI.
In the previous decade, the government, with Praful Patel as the civil aviation minister, saw the introduction of an irrational 5/20 policy.
The government has cleared the acquisition of 46 new aircraft worth over Rs 19,000 crore by three low-cost carriers: SpiceJet, IndiGo and Jet Lite. The new planes will arrive in a staggered delivery schedule beginning November. The acquisitions were cleared on August 30 at a meeting of a civil aviation ministry empowered committee.
In December 2005, AI had ordered 111 aircraft worth Rs 46,000 crore.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, in-flight meal service was not permitted on domestic flights since their resumption on May 25. On international flights, only pre-packed cold meals and snacks were being served depending on the flight duration since May this year.
The civil aviation ministry would 'shortly' come out with a comprehensive policy framework for sharing of unused bilateral air-traffic rights between the public sector and private carriers, for operating to these international destinations.
Disciplinary action against 45 suspended pilots would also be taken to its logical conclusion, they added.
Civil aviation ministry has also reached a consensus to give a five-year term to the next CMD of the ailing state-owned airline.
In a coalition era, the smallest of parties gets almost blackmail power and that power is in direct proportion to the weakness of the senior coalition partner. Which is why, for instance, even in an era of coalitions, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was a lot more powerful than Manmohan Singh is.
The government on Friday decided to extend 'open sky' policy to all foreign airlines, including those from the Persian Gulf for three months in the peak winter season, subject to commercial arrangements with the national flag carriers.
The creation of joint ventures by Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) has not impacted its revenue share, says the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
The Aircraft Acquisition Committee of the civil aviation ministry, which approved the IndiGo request in principle, also gave similar approval to a proposal of the Chennai-based business class airline Paramount Airways to acquire 10 aircraft from the Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier and European ATR, official sources said.
