Government seeks Parliament nod for $143 mn capital injection in Air India

New Delhi: The government today sought Parliament's approval for Rs 980 crore as supplementary grant for equity infusion in Air India which is grappling with financial crunch.
The amount is part of the total gross additional expenditure of Rs 11,697.92 crore, for which approval has been sought from the Parliament.
The grant has been sought as part of equity infusion into Air India under the Turnaround Plan (TAP), as per the document tabled in the Lok Sabha for supplementary demand for grants for 2018-19.
"Taking into account the surrender of savings available in the revenue section of the grant, the ... expenditure (Rs 980 crore) will not entail any additional cash outgo," it added.
31/07/18 PTI/Economic Times

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Air India seeks additional equity from government to pay vendors: Source

State-owned carrier Air India has sought 21.21 billion rupees ($309 million) of additional equity from the government for the fiscal year 2018-19 to make pending payments to its vendors, a source at the airline told Reuters on Monday.

Air India owes about 18 billion rupees to its vendors, including lessors and banks that have demanded payment from the beleaguered airline, after the government's unsuccessful efforts to find a buyer for its 76 percent stake.

The airline expects to receive the additional equity within the next 7 to 10 days after which it will be able to clear all dues, the source said, adding that this is above the 6.5 billion rupees it has already received for the year.
30/07/18 Reuters/Economic Times

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4 airlines get more time to start ops from Ozar

Nashik: The Airport Authority of India (AAI) on Monday said it has given two-month extension to four airlines to start operations from Ozar under the second phase of the regional connectivity scheme (RCS) following requests from the airlines.
The AAI said, now the four airlines -- SpiceJet, Indigo, Alliance Air and TruJet -- will start operations by September end.
The authorities had given six-month period to the airlines which ends on July 31.
30/07/18 Tushar Pawar/Times of India

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Direct Asr-London flight may become a reality soon

Amritsar: The long-pending demand of many NRIs and Punjabis for a direct flight from Amritsar to London is likely to be accepted soon.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Air India are considering to resume the direct flight from Amritsar to London, said Amritsar Vikas Manch (AVM) member Yogesh Kamra, who was part a delegation that met the Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Jayant Sinha.
The national carrier is already flying Delhi-Amritsar-Birmingham flight to the UK. He said the minister citing unavailability of slots for Air India at London Heathrow airport, the flight will operate to London Luton International Airport.
30/07/18 Tribune

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Snag delays AI flight with MPs on board

Kolkata:  An Air India flight carrying 145 passengers, including four MPs, was held up at Kolkata airport for an hour and a half when it developed a technical snag prior to departure. The aircraft had come in from Delhi.
The return flight was to take off at 10.15am. According to a spokesperson, passengers had boarded the flight when the snag was detected during the pre departure flight check.
On board the flight were MPs Abhishek Banerjee, Satabdi Roy, Idris Ali and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, all of whom were heading to Delhi to attend Parliament that is in session. The snag was ultimately rectified in just over an hour and the plane pushed back at 11.45am, 90 minutes behind the scheduled departure.
31/07/18 Times of India

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Air India gets default notices from banks, aircraft lessors - Business Standard

Three banks and two aircraft leasing firms have served default notices on Air India over the last few weeks, the Business Standard newspaper reported on Monday, raising concerns about the government-owned carrier’s state of finances and credit-worthiness.

San Francisco, United States-based Wells Fargo Trust Services and UAE's state-owned Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) have sent letters of demand for pending rental payments, the newspaper said, citing sources.
DAE declined to comment on the report. Air India was not immediately available to comment, while Wells Fargo could not be reached outside usual U.S. business hours.

Three lenders from a 22-bank consortium have also written to Air India raising concerns that the company is turning into a non-performing asset, Business Standard said.
30/07/18 Reuters

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Bed bugs on Air India flight: Airline relents; to give mom of 3 full refund

Owing to her relentless fight for her right to travel in humane and hygienic conditions, Air India on Friday agreed to refund a passenger the full ticket fare after she complained of bed bugs in one of their international flights.
Saumya Shetty, who travelled on the national carrier’s Newark-Mumbai flight on July 18 with her kids, had paid USD 10,964 for three round-trip business-class tickets. As she was undertaking an almost 17-hour overnight journey with three young children, including a six-month-old infant, she paid the hefty amount expecting a comfortable and pleasant experience.
What she got instead was every mother’s nightmare. Shetty spent the night swatting away bed bugs crawling all over her seats while keeping vigil on her children. Apart from offering her thick blankets, the crew had done little to nothing, she had alleged.
And what had irked her the most was the airline’s nonchalance and refusal to take responsibility. Although AI had apologised to Shetty for her experience, they had blamed the infestation on the weather and tried to brush the matter under the carpet saying corrective measures have been taken.
Also, despite Shetty demanding a full refund, she was offered only the base fare after deducting the taxes.
Shetty, however, kept up her fight.
28/07/18 Mumbai Mirror

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Narendra Modi took 31 Air India flights at Rs 387.26 crore in first 4 years

Foreign travels of Prime Minister Narendra Modi are often critiqued by the opposition for their frequency as well as cost. But though Modi has spent more days abroad than his predecessor Manmohan Singh, it has hardly cost more.

ET compared the foreign travels of Modi in his first four years as Prime Minister and those of Singh in the first four years of UPA-2. It has been found that both cost the government almost a similar amount of around Rs 387 crore in terms of the money paid to Air India.

Both have taken equal number of Air India chartered flights in their four respective years.

While Manmohan Singh’s 31 trips in 2009-2013 cost Rs 386.35 crore, Modi’s equal number of trips in his first four years cost Rs 387.26 crore. It is Rs 91 lakh more than in Manmohan’s first four-year tenure in UPA-2. Modi was also on five additional foreign trips in his first four years on an Indian Air Force BBJ Aircraft to neighbouring nations, for which the government did not have to pay.
28/07/18 Aman Sharma/Economic Times

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Air India received Rs 650 cr equity infusion in the current fiscal

Air India received Rs 650 cr in the form of equity infusion till June 30 of the current fiscal. However, starting from 2012 the government has infused a total of Rs27,195.21 cr in the form of equity.

‘Air India has received an equity infusion of Rs 27,195.21 crore till date,’ Jayant Sinha, Ministry of State for Civil Aviation. By March 2017, Air India reported a debt of Rs48,000 cr.

The UPA government approved the Turnaround Plan (TRP) and Financial Restructuring Plan (FRP) in 2012. Under this an equity infusion of ?30,231 cr was planned for a period of 10 years upto FY 2020-21.

In an interview earlier, Arun Jaitley criticised the refinancing schemes which, he said, could instead be utilized for social welfare sectors. He also pointed out that Air India’s market share fell from 19.4% in 2013 to around 13.3% in May 2017 in the domestic sector. This was due to private competition.
27/07/18 Varsha Santosh/Indian Wire

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Israeli Airline Drops Plea Against Air India Flights Via Saudi Airspace

Jerusalem: Israel's national carrier El Al said it has withdrawn its plea filed in the top court against the government decision to allow Air India to fly over Saudi Arabia's airspace on Delhi-Tel Aviv route, something it had claimed gives its competitor an unfair competitive edge.
Local media reports said Israel's High Court of Justice had urged El Al to drop the petition it filed in March this year, days after Air India's inaugural flight landed in Tel Aviv on March 22.

In a statement to the Tel Aviv stock exchange, the airlines said its decision was made following a hearing on the matter on July 18. No further details were provided, but it seems the airlines decided to pay heed to the court's request.

El Al had filed an urgent petition to the court against the Israeli government, Transportation Ministry and the Civil Aviation Authority, claiming that granting the Indian airline permission to fly the route, which significantly reduces the cost and flight time, gave a foreign company an unfair competitive advantage and violated the state's commitment to Israel's national carrier.
27/07/18 PTI/NDTV

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Air India received Rs 27,195 crore equity infusion: Jayant Sinha

New Delhi: Debt-laden Air India has received Rs 27,195.21 crore worth equity infusion till date from the government under the turnaround and financial restructuring plans approved back in 2012.

In the current financial year, the state-owned airline received an equity infusion of Rs 650 crore up to June, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha told the Lok Sabha on Thursday.

A Turnaround Plan (TAP) as well as a Financial Restructuring Plan (FRP) were approved for Air India by the previous UPA regime in 2012.

All government guaranteed loans and interests thereon are being paid by the government by way of equity infusion into the airline, Sinha said in a written reply.
27/07/18 PTI/Asian Age

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Air India Blames Weather for Bed Bugs infestation in Business Class

Recently, Air India was again in the news for all the wrong reasons. After business class passengers complained against bed bugs in the Indian national carrier travelling from Mumbai to New York, the airlines have blamed the weather condition for bed bug infestation.
Air India has since apologised and ordered an inquiry. The Indian National carrier has also promised to vigorously fumigate and disinfect the plane. Air India, the nations biggest international carrier, is in severe debt. Adding to its miseries, the organisation has a dwindling market share, losing out to new entrants, besides carrying a terrible reputation for sub-standard service and delayed flights.
Earlier, expressing regret, Air India reportedly told Shetty: “We noted with utmost concern the narration of your travel experience on board our flight AI-144 of 18th July 18. Please accept our deep regrets and sincere apologies for the inconvenience experienced.”
27/07/18 EurAsian Times

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Jaipur: Air India’s flight fails to take off on Day 1

A direct flight from Jaipur to Agra which was supposed to commence from Thursday was cancelled on the very first day itself.
The flight AI 9687 was supposed to depart from Jaipur Airport at about 6.50 am and the passengers were in the process of boarding the flight which was initially late. However, later it was informed that the flight was being cancelled.
The passengers got perturbed and felt harassed as they had to either cancel or change their travel plans.
The flight AI 9688 which was supposed to fly from Agra for Jaipur also failed to arrive on Thursday.
Air India officials informed that due to bad weather the flight did not operate. “The flight was cancelled due to weather conditions in Agra,” claimed an official.
27/07/18 DNA

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Air India debt: You won’t believe how much money government has pumped into ‘Maharaja’ in last 6 years

Debt-laden Air India has received Rs 27,195.21 crore worth equity infusion till date from the government under the turnaround and financial restructuring plans approved back in 2012. In the current financial year, the state-owned airline received an equity infusion of Rs 650 crore up to June, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha told the Lok Sabha today. A Turnaround Plan (TAP) as well as a Financial Restructuring Plan (FRP) were approved for Air India by the previous UPA regime in 2012.

All government guaranteed loans and interests thereon are being paid by the government by way of equity infusion into the airline, Sinha said in a written reply.

The minister said that under the FRP, high cost of working capital loans have been converted into long term debt carrying lesser rates of interest so as to reduce the financial burden on Air India. “The TAP/ FRP includes budgetary support amounting to Rs 30,231 crore spread over 10 years ie. up to FY 2020-21 and also equity support for the payment of principal/ interest of the non-convertible debentures.
26/07/18 PTI/Financial Express

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Air India will refund passenger bitten by bed bugs on flight

Under heavy fire for questionable hygiene in its business-class cabins, Air India on Wednesday said that it will refund a woman passenger who had complained of bed bugs on one of the airline’s premium international routes.
Saumya Shetty had paid a whopping $10,000 for three business-class tickets on AI’s Newark-Mumbai flight on July 18, as she was travelling with three kids, including an infant and a toddler.
She lodged a complaint with the cashstrapped carrier demanding a full refund for the 17-hour ordeal she was put through and attached pictures of her bite-riddled arm as proof.
Although Air India’s apology took almost a week to come, as a face-saving measure – one it is calling a ‘goodwill gesture’ – the airline has offered to refund Shetty’s entire base fare which amounts to more than $8,000.
26/07/18 Mumbai Mirror

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3 Lawmakers Back Plea Of Transgender Accusing Air India Of Discrimination

New Delhi: Three parliamentarians; D Raja (CPI), Tiruchi Siva (DMK) and Manoj Jha (RJD) on Tuesday extended their support to a transgender, who had moved the Supreme Court challenging Air India's decision to allegedly deny her a job as a cabin crew.
The three lawmakers attended a meeting organised by the National Federation of Indian Women to express their solidarity with her cause.

Mr Raja later told PTI that they would be meeting Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu shortly and raise the alleged discrimination being faced by her in getting a job in the airline.

"We are expressing support to her cause and we will meet the minister," he said.
26/07/18 NDTV

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Air India grounded 2 of its planes after passengers complained of being covered in gruesome bedbug bites after flights

Air India temporarily grounded two aircraft operating between Mumbai and Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey after passengers complained of being bitten by bedbugs last week.

Business class passengers on board Flight 144 reported bedbug bites on two separate segments last week.

Air India was not immediately available for comment on the matter. However, in a statement to NBC News , the airline said that it is "deeply concerned with a few reports of 'bugs' causing inconvenience to its esteemed passengers."

"The issue has been viewed seriously and every possible step is being taken to closely inspect and further strengthen our system at every level to ensure that such isolated incidents of passenger discomfiture do not affect our consistent performance," the airline added.
26/07/18 Brian Pascus and Benjamin Zhang/Business Insider

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El Al Drops Suit to Block Air India Flights to Israel via Saudi Airspace

El Al Airlines said Wednesday it had withdrawn its lawsuit seeking to restrict any new flights to the country via Saudi airspace until it could also use the shortened route. El Al said its decision followed a hearing in the High Court of Justice on the matter on July 18. The statement did not provide further details, but justices had urged the airline to drop the suit. Israel’s flag carrier filed the suit in March claiming unfair competition after Saudi Arabia opened its airspace for the first time to a commercial flight to Israel by Air India. Although the move signaled a thawing of ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia, Riyadh has shown no sign of allowing an Israeli carrier to use its airspace. Instead, El Al must take a more circuitous path to avoid Saudi Arabia, which it says adds two hours to flight times and increases costs.
26/07/18 Harretz

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Afghan native smuggles out foreign currency; fifth time on same flight

Kochi: Customs officials are trying to unravel the mystery of an Afghan currency smuggler who preferred to fly the same flight for more than five occasions. Kabul native Siddiq Yousafi, 33, smuggled out foreign currencies for more than five occasions by flying the same airline from New Delhi via Kochi to Dubai!

Yousufi was intercepted by the Customs officials while trying to board a flight from Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL), Nedumbassery. He had caught a Dubai-bound flight from New Delhi via Kochi. However, due to technical issues, there was a 24-hour delay at CIAL and the passengers were asked to board the next flight. Before boarding from CIAL, Customs seized currencies worth `10.86 crore from his baggage.

“One of the interesting factors in this case is that the Afghan national has been using the same Air India flight which starts from New Delhi and reach Dubai via Kochi. We are enquiring whether the accused was receiving any help from flight crew or if there was an aide who would board the flight along with him from Kochi. We also have to check whether anyone supporting the smuggling gang is deployed at New Delhi airport when the same flight takes off from there. We have evidence that he was involved in currency smuggling multiple times. While returning from Dubai, he prefers different flights,” a Customs officer said.
26/07/18 Toby Antony/New Indian Express

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Grounded by Air India, Shanavi bats for transgenders’ rights

New Delhi: “In a country where it seems that precedence is given to cows over human beings so far as the right to life is concerned, transgenders are fighting a losing battle,” says Shanavi Ponnusamy who has been allegedly denied a job by Air India for being a trans woman.

An engineering graduate who had to go till the Supreme Court and even write to the President requesting mercy killing, Shanavi spoke on her plight. “Despite laws, the truth is that trans people have no reservation in jobs and the government, which is duty-bound to protect us, is pushing us into prostitution and begging. Why can’t the government reserve at least one seat for us and not force us to apply under male/female category.”

On Wednesday, the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW) organised a meeting in solidarity with Shanavi. At the meet, Shanavi, who belongs to Tuticorin, said despite being a qualified engineer, she was denied employment in over 20 companies. Finally she got a job with a company where she handled Air India’s customer support. She later applied for an Air India cabin crew post under the female category as there was no category for transgenders.
25/07/18 Bindu Shajan Perappadan/The Hindu

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