Air India Sets New World Record By Journeying Around The World With An All-Women Crew!

Ahead of International Women's Day, Air India created history by flying around the world with an all-women crew. The flight took off from New Delhi on Monday to San Francisco and returned on Friday after journeying around the globe.
The Boeing 777-200LR aircraft flew over the Pacific Ocean en route San Francisco and over the Atlantic while flying back, thereby covering the entire distance around the world.
Not only the crew but the air traffic controllers, engineers, and ground handling staff were all women. According to an Air India representative, the airline has already applied for a Guinness World Record and Limca Book of Records for this accomplishment.
05/03/17 Anjali Bisaria/India Times

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Govt to sell 51% stake in Air India? Aviation secy says not true

Union Civil Aviation Secretary RN Choubey on Tuesday denied that the government was looking to sell a majority stake in Air India. A  report had claimed that the government was looking to sell a 51 percent stake in the loss-making national carrier to a strategic partner.  People familiar with the matter were quoted as saying that the proposal had included reviving the airline within five years. They claimed that presentations had already been made to the Finance Ministry and the Prime Minister's Office.  While Air India spokesperson Dhananjay Kumar and Finance Ministry spokesperson DS Malik had declined to comment, Choubey cleared the air by saying that no such proposal was on the table. The national carrier, which has the largest fleet in the country with 140 planes, has 14.6 percent of market share in the domestic passenger market. Under a financial restructuring plan in 2012, Air India was slated to receive Rs 30,231 crore equity infusion, 75 percent of which it has received so far. The airline’s losses have reduced of late, with Air India reporting a loss of about Rs 3,587 crore in 2015-16, from a loss of Rs 5,859 crore in the previous year.
28/02/17 moneycontrol.com

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Govt may sell 51% stake in Air India to a strategic partner: Report

Government may soon sell its majority stake in country's national carrier Air India to a strategic partner in a bid to turn around the loss making airline, a Bloomberg report said.
The proposal includes reviving Air India within five years of selling a 51 per cent stake. Talks are at an initial stage and presentations have been made to the finance ministry and the prime minister's office, the report said quoting people who did not want to be identified.
Under a financial restructuring plan in 2012, Air India was slated to receive Rs 30,231 crore equity infusion over 10 years. It has received some Rs 23,993 crore so far. Even after pumping in huge money, the airline has not shown significant financial and operational improvement. For instance, the airline reported losses of Rs 3,587 crore in 2015/16, down from Rs 5,859 crore in 2014/15.
28/02/17 Business Today

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`Forgetful' engineers put Air India plane in peril, grounded

Two Air India engineers were grounded on Monday as they reportedly "forgot" to remove pins from landing gear - which ensure that wheels of an aircraft on ground do not accidentally retract - while clearing a plane to take off. Due to this, the pilots could not retract the wheels on getting airborne and had to return soon after take off.
This unprecedented lapse took place on Monday when an AI aircraft was being prepared at Delhi for flying to Kochi. "The plane was cleared to take off by engineering and when the wheels did not retract once in air, the pilots had to return to Delhi on an urgent basis. Delhi air traffic control ensured that the plane returned without any delay once the pilot indicate that he had to turn back," said a source.
On landing, the aircraft was examined and the pins were found attached to the landing gear. The same were removed and the plane then took off again for Kochi after a detailed examination. The airline informed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation of this lapse and the regulator immediately grounded two aircraft maintenance engineers (AME) who had cleared the plane for take off.
Confirming this, a senior AI official said, "The landing gear pins were not removed due to which the aircraft had to turn back. DGCA has derostered the shift in-charge and the engineer who cleared the plane for take off and we are also investigating this issue. It was a slip by the engineers who were busy on something else and forgot to remove the pins on the landing gear."
When landing gear is extended on ground, some pins are put on them - similar to putting a brick behind wheels of a car parked on a slope to ensure it does to go down - to prevent the wheels from accidentally folding up. Just before departures these pins are removed.
28/02/17 Saurabh Sinha/The Times Of India

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Air India keeping options 'open' for 5 wide-body aircraft

New Delhi: The government-owned Air India is keeping all options "open" on the type of wide-body aircraft, which it plans to lease, including the latest jetliner from Airbus, A350.

The European aviation major Airbus is scheduled to a give a formal presentation to the national airline early next month in this regard, sources have said.

At present Air India has wide-body planes from the US aircraft maker Boeing Inc, while its narrow-body fleet consists of Airbus planes.

The airline used to operate wide body A330 till a few years ago. However, it phased them out after inducting Boeing 787-800s in the fleet.

The Air India Board has recently given approval to the airline to lease five wide-body planes in the fleet, which are to be inducted between January and March next year.

"We have not yet decided about the manufacturer. We are keeping all options open on this. Some time back, Airbus had given us an initial proposal for its newest jetliner A350. We are evaluating this as well," a highly placed Air India official said.
28/02/17 PTI/Economic Times

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Air India flight makes emergency landing at Mangaluru airport

A Kochi-bound Air India flight from Mumbai with 58 passengers and crew on board made an emergency landing at the airport here today due to a technical snag.

"The Air India flight coming from Mumbai and heading towards Kochi made an emergency landing at 7.50 PM at Mangaluru airport due to a technical snag," an airport official said.

He, however, declined to give details of the nature of the snag.
28/02/17 PTI/The New Indian Express

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Air India case: Supreme Court asks tribunal to decide Delhi International Airport charges, puts 2-month deadline

The ministry of civil aviation has made a proposal to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet to extend the tenure of the current bench of AERAAT (Airport Economic Regulatory Authority Apellate Tribunal) by a year — till March 2018 — for quick resolution of the issues regarding the decrease in tariff at the Delhi International Airport (DIAL). This is pursuant to the Supreme Court asking AERAAT to decide on the appeals against the tariff orders of Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) as expeditiously as possible, preferably within two months.
Air India, while moving the apex court seeking implementation of the reduced tariff for the second control period at DIAL, had raised the issue with regard to the tenure of the current bench of AERAAT expiring on March 8. The SC has now kept the matter for further hearing on April 24. In May 2016, the Supreme Court had asked AERA to decide on the matter within three months by August 2016. Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar appeared for Air India while senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi represented DIAL.
The tenure of the current bench of AERAAT will come to an end by March 8 this year and while hearing the matter on February 23, the appellate tribunal asked for an assurance from the civil aviation ministry for extending the term till the appeal is disposed of.
28/02/17 Malyaban Ghosh/The Financial Express

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Poor crew decisions and support cited in Air India A320 accident

The aircraft, registered VT-ESH, was operating flight from Imphal and Guwahati to Delhi when it was forced to divert due to poor visibility at Delhi.

Listed alternate airports were Lucknow and Jaipur, however weather information was not provided by the flight dispatchers, nor were any weather updates sought by the flight crew for either airport. The aircraft was not equipped with aircraft crew address and reporting system (ACARS), but had VHF/HF radios.

After an initial missed approach at Lucknow, the crew decided to land at Jaipur. During its descent at 5,000ft, air traffic control advised the flight crew that the weather was deteriorating rapidly, and visibility was only 400m.

The captain elected to fly the approach manually, during which the aircraft deviated to the left of the runway centreline, touching down on soft ground to the left of the runway around 21:10 local time. During the touchdown and landing roll, the visibility was zero and crew were unable to see any reference cues.

The aircraft skidded on the unpaved surface during the rollout, and its left wing impacted trees causing major damage to the leading edge and a number of spars. The left main landing gear was also heavily damaged. The aircraft turned then right and entered the runway before coming to a halt.

Although the aircraft was written-off, there were no injures to the six crew and 173 passengers on board.
27/02/17 Aaron Chong/Flight Global

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Govt Defers Decision On Centaur Land Transfer To DIAL As Air India Objects

The Civil Aviation Ministry has deferred a decision on handing over of the Centaur Hotel land to DIAL for airport expansion till next year after Air India raised "objection" over the issue. The Centaur in Delhi is one of the two hotels operated by Hotel Corporation of India (HCI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Air India.

The property is on the land leased from Airports Authority of India (AAI) and the lease period is to end in 2032. As part of its revised Master Plan for IGI Airport, which has already been approved by the Civil Aviation Ministry, DIAL has proposed further development of landside, terminals and airside facilities to correspond to the projected traffic growth in next 20 years.

It also proposes expansion of passenger handling capacity of the IGI Airport from the existing 62 million passengers per annum (MPPA) to 109.3 million MPPA in a phased manner. Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) had last year written to the ministry for taking possession of the hotel land as part of these plans.

"Following this, the ministry asked Air India to vacate the building complex at the earliest. However, Air India wrote back to the Ministry, saying that since it is already working on plans to revive the hotel, it will not be feasible to transfer the property at this stage," official sources said.

The ministry has accepted Air India's plea and accordingly deferred a decision on the issue till the first quarter of the next calendar year, they said. DIAL is a joint venture between GMR-led consortium and Airports Authority of India. In the JV, while GMR group holds 64 per cent stake, mini-ratna Public Sector Undertaking AAI has 26 per cent ownership. The rest 10 per cent is with German airport operator Fraport.
27/02/17 PTI/Millennium Post

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All-female Air India crew lands at TIA

As the aviation sector continues to set the bar high, an all-female crew operated an Air India flight from New Delhi to Kathmandu for the first time.
Siddhartha Roy, country manager of Air India, told The Himalayan Times that the AI-215 flight, which took off at 2:22pm from Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, landed at Tribhuvan Innternational Airport in Kathmandu at 3:42pm.

“At least 115 passengers were on board the Airbus 321 jet. The entire show — cabin crew, and cockpit crew — was run by women,” Roy said.

Commanded by senior captain Renu and first officer Kala Mehra, the same squad flew the jet back to New Delhi from Kathmandu in the evening.  Air India operates two flights daily from New Delhi and four flights a week from Kolkata to Kathmandu.
27/02/17 The Himalayan Times

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AIATSL Recruitment 2017: Apply For 186 Posts Before 14 March

Air India Air Transport Services Limited (AIATSL) has announced 186 vacancies for Store agent, Office agent, handyman and utility agent cum driver posts. Graduates and matriculates can apply. Interested candidates are suggested to go through details of the eligibility criteria and ensure that they are eligible to apply. Applications can be submitted till 14 March 2017. AIATSL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Air India Ltd. Candidates should note that the current recruitment is for selecting candidates for various positions for ground duties at Materials Management Department, Mumbai on a Fixed Term Contract basis for a period of three years which may be renewed at the discretion of AIATSL subject to their performance and the requirement of the Company.
27/02/17 Maitree Baral/NDTV

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170 stuck for 4 hours after Air India Dreamliner suffers snag

Chennai: More than 170 passengers were stranded inside a Chennai-Singapore Air India flight for four hours at Chennai airport on Saturday after the B787 Dreamliner aircraft broke down while entering a taxiway. Other flights were not delayed and the plane was grounded.
The flight scheduled to depart at 11.30am was taxiing when the brakes jammed. Attempts to release the brakes failed and the plane was towed to a parking bay around 3.30pm, an Air India official said. Passengers had to wait inside as authorities could not bring a ladder to take them out.
Later, around 120 passengers were moved to the terminal and taken to a city hotel, while others tried to reschedule the trip or book on other flights.
"We are bringing spare parts from Mumbai to rectify the defect. The passengers were served food and beverages inside the aircraft. Passengers were immediately not disembarked as technicians were trying to set right the snag. As the effort failed, we alerted Mumbai," he said.
The airline was trying to take the passengers on a spare plane to be brought from Mumbai. An Airports Authority of India (AAI) official said, "The stranded plane did not affect schedules of other flights because it was about to enter a taxiway. Other flights were routed via an alternative taxiway."
26/02/17 Times of India

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Chargesheet filed against AISATS vice-president

Thiruvananthapuram: The city police have filed a chargesheet in the Judicial First Class Magistrate here against Binoy Jacob, vice president of Air India SATS, an agency offering ground handling services, for alleged sexual harassment and outraging the modesty of a woman colleague.
The Museum police filed the chargesheet on Saturday under Sections 354(A) (punishment for sexual harassment) and (D) (stalking) of the Indian Penal Code.
According to G Sunil, Museum SI, who submitted the chargesheet, the investigation revealed that Binoy Jacob had spoken to the complainant, several middle-level officers, in sexually explicit language on several occasions. Binoy had also tried to molest her several times. This has been proven. Now, the court has to make a final call,” Sunil said.
The incident took place in April last year at the AISATS office at Sasthamangalam when the accused tried to molest the complainant in his cabin.
Another day, the accused made obscene comments on her and tried to influence her by promising a ‘career growth’. He allegedly tried to block her probation period for ignoring him.Speaking to Express, the victim said she would get justice once the accused is convicted by the court. “I am happy that at least a chargesheet was filed.
26/02/17 New Indian Express

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Air India stops booking for morning Airbus for 2 months after March 26

Hundreds of passengers from the Diamond City are unhappy over Air India's (AI) decision to stop bookings for the morning Airbus between Surat and Delhi from March 26 until May 31.
Many frequent flyers from the city were planning their summer vacations in the northern states, but the sudden change in the morning schedule of Airbus has come as a big jolt to them.
Recently, AI had introduced morning Airbus between Surat and Delhi following strong representation from airport groups and MPs from Surat and Navsari. The Airbus, according to the airport groups, was getting more than 85 per cent passenger traffic to and from Surat on a daily basis.
'Member of We Want Working Airport at Surat' (WWWAS) Sanjay Jain said, "There is no logic for shutting the morning Airbus operations in the summer schedule, when the AI management is aware of the business potential from the city. We have written to the AI's chairman and managing director urging him to restore the Airbus operation in the morning. This will affect a large number of people, who are travelling to Delhi for business and other purposes on a daily basis."
25/02/17 The Times Of India

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Union warns of no-confidence motion against Air India pilot

The Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), Air India’s pilots’ union, has threatened to move a noconfidence motion against Captain A.K. Kathpalia for continuing as the carrier’s head of operations despite his flying licence being suspended by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation for evading a mandatory breathalyser test.

The ICPA, in a letter through its general secretary Captain Praveen Keerthi, said that being the head of flight operations in Air India and chief of flight operations inspector in the past, Kathpalia was well acquainted with aviation rules and regulations.

“He wilfully did not report the matter to the director of air safety and operated flights after evading the breathalyser test on January 19. The DGCA found him guilty post-inquiry and suspended him on February 7,” the letter read.

The ICPA further pointed out that as per civil aviation requirements of the DGCA, a pilot operating an aircraft without undergoing breathalyser examination or trying to evade the mandatory medical test should be kept off-flying duty.

“This rule is strictly followed in India. In fact, there are instances of pilots not being allowed to complete the route and taken off duty on first landing after they were found to have skipped breathalyser test, whereas Capt. Kathpalia had operated a flight from Delhi to Bangalore and back on the same day. On several other occasions, he had skipped the breathalyser test. He did not report to the authorities that he had not taken the test and tried to cover it up,” the letter said, warning of a no-confidence motion against him.
25/02/17 Aditya Anand/Mumbai Mirror

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Air India and team undertake green initiatives

Air India, which is planning to install solar panels on its buildings in Kalina with the help of BMC, has got its employees involved in “green” initiatives.

The national carrier, which is the only airline in the country to set up an environment management cell, produced 500 kg of vermi-compost using 3,000 kg of dry and green waste in its compound. Moving a step ahead, the airline now aims to come up with solar panels by the end of June this year.

An Air India spokesperson said, “The Recycle Green Project is aimed at helping prevent air pollution due to burning of dry waste, reduce CO2 emissions resulting from transportation of waste to dumping grounds, and recycle organic waste. It is 100 per cent natural and free from chemicals and will result in a healthier atmosphere.”

Air India launched its “Recycle Green Project” on Thursday after it joined hands with BMC to convert waste (scrapped material from its own premises to reduce costs) into organic manure using Vermiculture, which is an alternative for disposal of green waste.
25/02/17 The Asian Age

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Probe into AI flight’s ‘blind landing’ cites human error

An inquiry committee, probing the “blind landing” of an Air India aircraft in nearzero visibility in Jaipur, has submitted its report, blaming a combination right from organisational factors to human errors for the 2014 incident that could have turned into a major tragedy had the plane exploded.

Although the inquiry conducted by Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) got over in August 2016, the report was released on Thursday. The investigators — inquiry committee chairman R.S. Passi and members N.S. Dagar and Dhgruv Rebbapragada — also made several recommendations.

The incident took place on January 5, 2014, when an Air India flight (AI 890) from Guwahati to Delhi with 173 passengers on board was diverted to Jaipur, where visibility had dropped because of inclement weather. Mumbai Mirror had published a report, ‘Miracle in Jaipur’, in its front page on January 7, 2014.

The aircraft — an Airbus 320 — piloted by Captain Jalaj Vats was originally supposed to land in Delhi, but had to divert its path because of heavy smog in the national capital. Consequently, the aircraft was diverted to Lucknow, which had 2,000 meters visibility.

But the crew decided to head to Jaipur, ignoring the fast reducing visibility trend there, after a failed landing attempt in Delhi caused it to veer 40 nautical miles to the west of the national capital towards Rajasthan.

At the Jaipur airport, the airport had landed on soft ground to the left of the runway, careening up to 80 metres towards the left. As a result, the left wing of the plane hit a few trees, causing extensive damages to the aircraft, which, after veering towards the left, came back on the runway and halted.
25/02/17 Aditya Anand/Mumbai Mirror

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Air India Puts New Airbus A320 Neo Into Operations

Chennai: Government-run Air India has put into operations its newly leased Airbus A320 Neo with its maiden flight arriving here from New Delhi.

The first A320 Neo aircraft with 161 passengers on board touched down at the Chennai International airport from the Indira Gandhi International Airport at 2030 hours yesterday, the airline said in a release.

The national carrier had inducted the latest fuel-efficient aircraft from European aviation major Airbus in its fleet on February 16.

The A320 New Engine Option aircraft is configured with 162 seats, including 12 in the business class.

Air India has plans to induct a total of 29 A320 Neos into its fleet by March 2019.

The fuel-efficient Airbus A320 Neo aircraft is highly environmental-friendly with reduced noise levels and 50 per cent less carbon emissions, the airline said in the release.
24/02/17 PTI/NDTV

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Air India To Launch First Israel–India Flights Early Next Month

Air India will launch first Israel–India flights early next month, “Yediot Ahronot” reports. Hundreds of thousands of Israelis, flew Israel-India flights via El Al or stopover destinations such as Amman, Cairo, Istanbul and Kiev.

According to the Hebrew newspaper, chairman and managing director Ashwani Lohani and a senior delegation of Air India executives will visit Israel and formally announce the inauguration of the new route. Lohani  will be the guests of Minister of Tourism Yariv Levin.

Currently El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. and foreign carriers operate the only flights between the two countries. It’s unclear whether Air India will fly to Tel Aviv from Mumbai or New Delhi.
23/02/17 Jewish Business News

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Air India may revive some flights to Africa

New Delhi: Air India is planning to revive some international routes in Africa which became defunct in 2006-2007. Increase in the number of Indians living in Kenya and Tanzania is one of the main reasons why Air India feels it could be commercially viable to revive these routes.

In the recent past, Air India has launched operations in Vienna and is also planning to launch operations in Washington and Copenhagen.

“A lot has changed since 2006. There are Indians now living in Kenya and Tanzania. I know of many Indian teachers who are living in Kenya and Tanzania. Commercial viability of an international route depends on the passenger load factor,” said Lally Matthews, Secretary of Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO).

 Although India has bilateral agreements with several African countries like Kenya, Zambia, Seychelles and Yemen, most of them are not being utilised. Air India is operating its flights only to South Africa at the moment. According to the tourism industry, many expatriates mainly from Gujarat living in Kenya and Tanzania who would like to visit India.
Air India officials said government support from Kenya and Tanzania is also a criterion for launching the operations.

“The government must agree on the number of passengers that is to be carried from Kenya and Tanzania. A separate agreement is signed for that,” said K R Krishnan, Senior V-P of travel consultancy firm, Nivalink.
23/02/17 Abhijeet Anand/Statesman

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