'By August 2018, it was evident that Jet was heading into serious financial trouble.' 'Why didn't the DGCA stop all advance bookings right there and then?' asks Anjuli Bhargava.
Canada has denied permission to convicted hijacker and terrorist Parminder Singh Saini to practise law citing dubious past, including hijacking of an Indian plane 26 years ago. The Law Society of Upper Canada rejected Saini's plea to allow him to practise in Greater Toronto.
Aveek Sen on how the Lashkar e Tayiba looks at the world while focusing on India and Afghanistan.
While the civil aviation ministry's activist supervision of the airline's functioning is said to be responsible for much of the mess, the airline management has its own sins to answer for.
'It will be a long time before we will see the likes of Vajpayee again.'
Bharatiya Janata Party President Rajnath Singh on Friday refused to speak on dvani''s role in the Kandahar hijack. " I refuse to say anything on the Advani issue," said Singh.
The times could not have been any worse for Bharatiya Janata Party.
Breaking his decade-long silence, former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh on Friday sought to embarrass L K Advani by saying that he "covered" up for him when he said that the former Home Minister was not aware that he was going to Kandahar with three terrorists during the 1999 hijack episode.
The airline, which was formed through a merger of international carrier Air India and domestic carrier Indian Airlines announced in 2007, has accumulated losses of Rs 4,334 crore till March 31, of which fiscal 2008-09 will account for almost Rs 3,000 crore.
The Supreme Court on Friday ticked off Indian Airlines for terminating the services of airhostess who failed to knock off their extra pounds and said it would be better if it focussed on ensuring their courteous behaviour rather than insisting on their slender waistlines.
Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil, the Taliban foreign minister when the Indian Airlines plane, IC-814, was hijacked from Kathmandu to Kandahar in December 1999, tells Jyoti Malhotra that India should not look at Afghanistan through the Pakistani lens.
The crisis management committee went into a review of its policy and will formulate new norms on how to deal with cases of aircraft hijack and terrorism.
In a last-ditch effort, the management of national air-carrier Air India is holding talks with a section of its employee unions to avert a strike on the issue of deferment of June salaries.
The former Indian Airlines pilot won a good deal for colleagues protesting a pay cut; but others question whether the victory was good for the airline.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says China 'protects' violent Islamic terror groups from UN sanctions.
The biggest let down for India's aviation sector has been the failure of the government to privatise Air India, says Anjuli Bhargava.
The new rules follow India's ratification of Montreal Convention on the issue by amending its own laws, an official spokesperson said on Monday. Currently in case of death of a passenger, the Indian airlines operating to international destinations provide Rs 7,50,000 as compensation. The new rules would raise this up to 100,000 special drawing rights or over $66,500, that is almost Rs 33 lakhs (Rs 3.3 million).
Old aircraft, tough competition and higher operational costs made making profits much more difficult for Air India. Here are some ways to revive the national carrier.
Pakistani authorities have reportedly imposed restrictions on the movement of Jaish-e-Mohammed founder Maulana Masood Azhar and confined him to his home despite turning down India's demand for handing him over.Azhar, who was freed by Indian authorities along with two other terrorists in exchange for passengers of an Indian Airlines flight hijacked from Kathmandu to Kandahar in 1999, has been confined to his multi-storey building in Model Town area of Bahawalpur.
All airlines put together flew 67,61,000 passengers in January-February this year compared to 75.56 lakh last year, the official traffic data released on Friday showed. As per the world airports report prepared by Airports Council International, the growth rate of global air traffic in January fell by six per cent year-on-year while that of air freight declined by 'a frightening 27 per cent'.
Air India had planned to launch the service in October but had to defer it as two of its cargo aircraft had to be sent for mandatory checks following an advisory from the Federal Aviation Administration, the official said. These aircraft are expected to join the fleet shortly along with one Airbus A310-200 configured freighter next month, the official said.
Airline companies under the Federation of Indian Airlines plan to make a presentation to the civil aviation ministry saying they will be forced to axe 8,000 employees if the government implements the new ground handling policy from January 1, 2009. About 29 per cent of the 28,000-odd employees working in the private carriers are involved in ground handling.
By cutting international flights, Indian firms forefeit market share.
Jet Airways, Kingfisher Airlines and state-owned NACIL owe public sector oil companies over Rs 2,241 crore (Rs 22.41 billion) as payment for jet fuel, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dinsha Patel said on Tuesday.
The officials said they had no information other than that Azhar was undergoing treatment at an army hospital after suffering renal failure.
An National Investigation Agency court in Punjab on Tuesday issued proclamation notice against Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed's chief Maulana Masood Azhar and three others, asking them to appear before it on March nine in connection with last year's brazen attack on Pathankot IAF base.
Highly placed sources said Oil Minister Murli Deora took exception to Menon's proposals during a meeting of the Federation of Indian Airlines and Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel to resolve the crisis arising out of mounting fuel bill arrears. "There should not be any layoffs. Why are you raising it now," sources quoted Deora as telling Menon.
The ministry of civil aviation has initiated a probe into the incident. It would look into the records of conversations between the ATC and the pilots.
The budget carrier was on the verge of collapsing in Dec.
Observing that the Indian aviation industry was passing through a 'fragile and delicate moment', he said some airlines could go bust in the coming few months if 'structural changes are not carried out expeditiously'. As many as 25 carriers worldwide have folded up operations in the past several months due to huge losses, the latest being Italian national carrier Alitalia, leading to over 100,000 jobs in the aviation sector being lost.
Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said Indian airlines had suffered major losses in the past two years over the unprecedented rise in prices of aviation turbine fuel.
According to sources in the aviation ministry, only State-owned Air India and private carrier AirAsia India have agreed to pay the surcharge.
Ending a seven-year-long wait, the Star Alliance Chief Executive Board, at its meeting in London on Monday, gave an endorsement vote to induct Air India into the fold.
Vistara has entered a country that has been sobered down to reality.
National Aviation Company of India Limited, the public sector entity that owns Air India, will be offering a voluntary leave-without-pay scheme to 15,000 employees--around 46 per cent of its staff strength--to help the financially-strapped airline save over Rs 75 crore annually.
Raghu Menon, CMD of National Aviation Company of India (Nacil), had said last year that more than 70 per cent of the merger process would be completed by the end of FY09.
The move will help mop up not more than Rs 10 billion, which is only a fifth of the capital requirement of the industry, led by Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines, say experts. The expected investment has been calculated on the basis of a 100 per cent premium on the current valuations of Jet Airways and Kingfisher -- two of the country's largest carriers by market share -- which require over Rs 50 billion.
MRTPC has suspected cartelisation amongst low-cost fliers over fixing of air fairs. It has called for a probe into the matter.
When asked about India's demand for extradition of Dawood Ibrahim, who New Delhi says is based in Pakistan, Pakistan Prime Minister Gilani initially refused to comment saying he had 'not studied' the matter or been briefed on it. On being pressed and asked if his government would extradite Ibrahim if the Indian government made a good case, Gilani said, that he had kept an open mind, and that the onus was on India to provide 'authentic proof' in this regard.
The Union government has no 'Buy India' policy, but has a 'Buy Air India' policy.
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