Aviation regulator DGCA conducted 53 spot checks on 48 SpiceJet aircraft between July 9 and July 13 and it did not find any major safety violations, Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh said on Monday. "However, as a safety measure, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) ordered SpiceJet to use certain identified aircraft (10) for operations only after confirming to the regulator that all reported defects/malfunctions are rectified," Singh said in his written reply in Rajya Sabha. SpiceJet planes were involved in at least eight technical malfunction incidents in the 18-day period starting June 19, following which the DGCA had on July 6 issued a show-cause notice to the airline, stating that "poor internal safety oversight" and "inadequate maintenance actions" have resulted in degradation of safety margins.
IndiGo had on May 9 said the boy was denied permission to board the Ranchi-Hyderabad flight as he was visibly in panic.
Jet Airways has complained to India's aviation regulator about the use of its livery on SpiceJet aircraft, saying the practice could "mislead the public" and is a safety hazard. Jet collapsed in 2019 and lessors repossessed its Boeing 737s. Some of these aircraft were leased to SpiceJet, which operates them without changing the livery. Jet, which is now being revived by the Kalrock Jalan consortium and aims to restart operations in September, has asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to ask SpiceJet to stop using its livery.
A three-member technical team of the FAA carried out the second round of audit of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to check whether corrective steps have been taken to resolve 33 deficiencies the US agency had highlighted during the first round in September.
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.
Taking cue from global best practices, aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation has drafted rules to allow a pilot take a short nap on flight deck, with the other pilot taking full control of the aircraft on a long-distance flight, official sources said.
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.
The minister's remarks come against the backdrop of Surya, the ruling BJP's Bengaluru South MP, facing flak from Congress over the incident, which happened on December 10 last year at Chennai airport.
Disability rights came under the spotlight again as the country's largest airline IndiGo refused to let a teenager with special needs board its aircraft. While the twitterati as well as fellow passengers have called for strict action, IndiGo has stood by its action saying the airport manager took the decision to ensure safety of other passengers. "Throughout the check-in and boarding process, our intent of course was to carry the family. "However, at the boarding area, the teenager was visibly in panic.
The outer structure of Navi Mumbai International Airport's first terminal building is almost ready. Exactly behind the under-construction building, stands a partially demolished hill. Executives from the airport company are now hopeful the hill will be flattened by mid-January, paving the way for the first commercial take-off by December next year.
Following the incident at little past 1700 hours, both runways at the airport were shut for a brief period, and one of the runways resumed operations at around 1847 hours, the officials said.
A helicopter carrying pilgrims from Guptkashi to Kedarnath crashed on Tuesday amid poor visibility and seven people on board are feared dead.
Aviation Working Group (AWG), a global aviation leasing body comprising major planemakers and lessors, on Monday further downgraded India as lessors have not been able to repossess their planes from Go First more than four months after the airline filed for insolvency. The leasing cost stands as a prominent expense for Indian airlines. With AWG's downgrade, it is likely that lessors will increase the aircraft leasing rates for Indian carriers.
The episode has been classified as an 'accident' as it has left serious injuries on passengers and crew members, the sources mentioned.
Amid concerns over alleged poaching of pilots, Air India told Akasa Air that petitioning a competitor to collude in restricting the rights of staff to change an employer could potentially violate the competition law. Air India CEO and managing director Campbell Wilson wrote a letter to Akasa Air CEO Vinay Dube against the backdrop of Akasa Air raising concerns about Air India Express hiring pilots from the airline. The letter, dated September 21, followed a letter by Dube to Tata Sons on September 11.
Tata Group-owned Air India CEO Campbell Wilson on Saturday apologised for a flyer urinating on a fellow female passenger on a flight from New York in November, and said four cabin crew and a pilot have been de-rostered and the airline is reviewing policy of serving alcohol on flights.
Despite the physical assault, Air India cabin crew did not use restraining devices to contain the unruly passenger, the source alleged.
NCPCR chairperson Priyank Kanoongo also asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to initiate an inquiry in the matter and take necessary action against the airline and its manager.
Airline stocks have been soaring following a steep decline in crude oil prices and sustained passenger traffic. Analysts have particularly turned bullish on the stocks of InterGlobe Aviation and SpiceJet. On December 20, shares of InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo) hit a record high of Rs 3,009 on the BSE, having surged 43.24 per cent year-to-date (YTD).
IndiGo carried 69.09 million passengers last year, compared to 67.9 million in 2019.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday said it's a pity that since switching sides, Scindia has adopted the Modi government's "uncaring attitude" to the public.
Indian carriers transported 12.8 million domestic passengers in March 2023, a year-on-year growth of 21.41 per cent. India's largest carrier IndiGo shored up its domestic market share from 53.8 per cent in Q4 of FY22 to 55.7 per cent in Q4 of FY23, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) data released on Monday.
Chandrasekaran also said that "We fell short of addressing this situation the way we should have."
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.
Wadia group-owned Go First will temporarily suspend flights on May 3 and 4 amid severe fund crunch, the airline's chief Kaushik Khona said on Tuesday.
The Delhi high court on Friday called for strict action against those found violating masking and hand hygiene norms at airports and in aircraft, observing that the Covid-19 pandemic has not abated and keeps rearing its ugly head.
The number of serious incidents has more than doubled in the last seven years.
The incident happened while the Kochi-bound Boeing 737-800 aircraft was taxiing and after the warning, the passengers were evacuated as a precautionary measure, the source said.
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Wednesday admitted Go First's voluntary plea to initiate the insolvency resolution process against the airline. A two-member bench comprising President Justice Ramalingam Sudhakar and L N Gupta also appointed Abhliash Lal as interim resolution professional (IRP) to run the debt-ridden company. It has also put the company under protection of moratorium and directed the suspended board of directors to assist the IRP to run the company during insolvency proceedings.
The incident was not logged in any logbook and it was not reported by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) either, DGCA said.
IndiGo's Sharjah-Hyderabad flight was diverted to Karachi as a precaution on Sunday after pilots observed defect in one of the engines, officials of aviation regulator DGCA said.
On Monday, the Boeing B737 Max aircraft with registration number VT-SZK operated the Mangaluru-Dubai flight, DGCA officials noted. After the aircraft landed, an engineer did a walk around inspection and found the nose wheel strut was compressed more than usual, they said.
Around 1.12 crore domestic passengers travelled by air in December, approximately 6.7 per cent higher than the 1.05 crore who travelled in November, the country's aviation regulator said on Wednesday. Overall, 8.38 crore people travelled on domestic flights in 2021 as compared to 6.3 crore in 2020, showing a jump of 33 per cent, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) stated in its monthly statement. IndiGo -- India's largest carrier -- carried 61.41 lakh passengers in December, a 54.8 per cent share of the domestic market, it mentioned.
A video clip of the scuffle inside the aircraft was shared widely on social media on Wednesday. In the clip, a man could be seen being slapped multiple times by a few co-passengers.
Around 1,000 passenger complaints have been received against Air India during the last three months related to various issues, including refund of fares, overbooking of flights, and staff behaviour, Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh said on Monday. The Tata Group on January 27 took control of Air India after winning the bid for the airline on October 8 last year. "Ministry of Civil Aviation has been receiving grievances related to air transport, including Air India, on the various issues such as refund of fares, flight issues, staff behaviour, baggage issues, overbooking of flights, etc," Singh said in his written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha.
The ATR aircraft landed safely at Bhuj in Gujarat.
Rhe unruly passenger was handed over to the security personnel after landing at the Delhi airport.
Aviation regulator DGCA has temporarily suspended SpiceJet's licence for the transportation of 'dangerous goods' for alleged violations, according to sources. The suspension is for 30 days, and during this period, SpiceJet will not be allowed to carry dangerous goods, including lithium-ion batteries, on its domestic as well as international flights, the sources told PTI on Friday. When contacted, a SpiceJet spokesperson did not directly mention the suspension.
Air India's handling of an incident in which an inebriated male flier allegedly urinated on a woman co-passenger suggests an urgent need for stricter rules to deal with unruly passengers, according to legal and aviation experts.
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Monday upheld an NCLT order allowing crisis-hit Go First's voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings. A two-member NCLAT bench asked several aircraft lessors of Go First opposing insolvency, to approach National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for any remedy. "The order dated May 10, 2023 allowing insolvency is upheld," said the NCLAT bench headed by Chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan.
