2 Firms Trying To Seize Air India Overseas Assets After Arbitration Wins

Devas Multimedia Pvt., a company seeking over $1.2 billion it won in international arbitration from India, has joined Cairn Energy Plc in seeking to seize Air India Ltd.'s assets abroad.

Calling the flagship airline an "alter ego" of the Indian state and therefore liable for the sovereign's debts, Devas filed a petition in New York asking Air India to pay the amount or forfeit its U.S. property including planes, cargo handling equipment and artwork.

The move may threaten India's much-delayed plans to sell the indebted loss-making carrier and risks denting India's image as an investment destination. India last year suffered two big losses in international arbitrations -- the $3 billion tax dispute with Vodafone Group Plc and the $1.2 billion dispute with Cairn. India has challenged both rulings.

Around the time of Cairn's petition in May, authorities asked state-run banks to protect their dollar deposits on concern that these could also be at risk of seizure, Bloomberg News had reported.

Indian authorities and Devas are engaged in multiple court cases globally in which Devas seeks the award money while India wants to liquidate the company and investigate an alleged fraud.

The dispute goes back to 2011 when an Indian state-owned company Antrix Corp. annulled an agreement with Devas citing force majeure. Devas said in its petition that the annulment eroded the value of its multi-million dollar investments. An arbitration tribunal in 2020 awarded Devas more than $111 million plus interest. Devas also won $562.5 million in damages plus interest from separate proceedings at the International Chamber of Commerce.

Devas says Antrix has paid neither of these. An Air India spokesman declined to comment. A representative for Indian Space Research Organisation, which controls Antrix, didn't immediately respond to requests for comments.

29/06/21 Upmanyu Trivedi and Anurag Kotoky/Bloomberg/NDTV

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Wives of Air India pilots who died of Covid form forum to seek adequate compensation & alternate job

New Delhi: The wives of Air India (AI) pilots who lost their lives after contracting the Covid virus in line of duty have formed a joint forum to seek adequate compensation and alternative employment for themselves.

The “Widows Forum for Justice” has written to AI management, expressing anguish that they are eligible for Rs 10 lakh as ad-hoc Covid death compensation — “an amount which in normal circumstances would have been less than two months earnings of their average net (salary).”

In contrast, IndiGo covers a deceased pilot to the sum of Rs 5 crore.

Employees, including pilots, of several Indian carriers have lost their lives to Covid. A senior AI pilot said the airline has lost five pilots to the dreaded virus.

“The events of the past few weeks and months have been excruciatingly traumatic and we wish to humbly bring the same to your kind notice with a sense of exasperation, outrage and utter disbelief. On inquiry about death compensation payable to these brave heart pilots, we are aghast to learn… eligible for a paltry amount of Rs 10 lakh as Covid-19 ad-hoc death compensation,” writes Vidya Prasad Karmarkar whose husband Captain Prasad M Karmarkar passed away on May 27, 2021.

Captain Karmarkar used to operate Boeing 777 for AI. He had last operated a Chicago-Delhi flight on April 25 and tested Covid positive on April 27. The B777 ace pilot was admitted to hospital on April 29, shifted to ICU on May 3 and died just over three weeks later.

The widows’ forum says current DGCA rules do not have a provision for pilots being declared permanently medically unfit (PMU) without presenting themselves before a DGCA-designated medical board for evaluation.

“This has been recognised by AI and hence vide its pilots’ loss of license insurance circular dated July 2016, AI internal Medical Board is adequately empowered to assess the PMU status of a pilot… for PMU compensation…”

“In almost all of the unfortunate deaths, the pilots have suffered Covid-related multi-organ failure…, before giving up their individual battle against the virus… in such a critical medical state, the pilots could not have ever recovered and… appear(ed) before the DGCA-designated medical board, be declared PMU. It is incumbent upon AI to honour its own commitment under the 2016 circular and release PMU compensation to all pilots who have succumbed to the Covid,” Vidya Prasad Karmarkar writes.

“On the issue of offering alternate employment to the immediate family members of the deceased, we have learnt (that) policy has been held in abeyance over last few years. However an immediate one-time extraordinary exception needs to be invoked in view of this once in a century pandemic situation, which has virtually wrecked and uprooted our lives and our children's future or whatever is left of it,” she requests with “folded hands”.

29/06/21 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Alliance Air to Commence Daily Flights Between Bengaluru and Hyderabad from July 12

Bengaluru: Alliance Air, a wholly owned subsidiary of Air India, on Friday announced daily direct flight operations from Bengaluru to Hyderabad & back effective July 12. Flight 9I 517 will depart Bengaluru at 6.45 PM and arrive in Hyderabad at 8.15 PM.

Flight 9I 518 will depart Hyderabad at 8.50 PM and arrive in Bengaluru at 10 PM, it said in a statement. In March, the airline had announced that it was eyeing expansion in the North Eastern states of India.

In a conversation with IANS, the airline’s Chief Executive, Harpreet A De Singh, said the next phase of the airline’s expansion depends on regulatory approvals for the new airports in the Northeast. Lately, the airline launched services to new destinations and resumed old ones, which had to be suspended due to the Covid-induced lockdown.

“We are looking at enhancing connectivity to the Northeast now. Special emphasis is on the routes to Arunachal Pradesh. The planning, hiring of pilots from defence forces on deputation and induction of new aircraft in the fleet are being carried out," Singh told IANS.

Accordingly, the regional subsidiary of the Air India Group recommenced services to the destinations it had won under the UDAN regional connectivity scheme and started new ones on pure commercial considerations.

28/06/21 News18

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Just One Passenger Flies On Air India A320 Flight To Dubai

A single Indian businessman was the only passenger onboard Air India flight AI929 between Amritsar (ATQ), and Dubai (DXB) on Wednesday morning. When SP Singh Oberoi boarded the Air India Airbus A320 early Monday morning for the three-and-a-half hour flight to his home in Dubai, he was surprised to find that he was the only passenger on the plane.

Flights between India and the United Arab Emirates( UAE) were suspended for the public on April 24 following a significant spike in India’s number of COVID-19 cases. However, despite the ban, the UAE made exceptions for Emiratis, Diplomats, and golden visa holders. It just so happened that the gentleman in question happened to hold the aforementioned golden visa.

While thanking both the Indian government and the UAE for his memorable journey, the Indian businessman said the following on his Facebook page:

“Sometimes in vital situations, we get opportunities to cherish for life. Highly appreciate the Government of UAE and India for making it a memorable journey. Thank you, Air India, for your special services. You made it absolutely a wonderful journey.”

Air India had said earlier that regular flights would resume between India and the UAE, tweeting:

“Flights to Dubai are being operated with curtailed scheduled due to travel restrictions implemented by UAE govt. Before planning your travel, please confirm your eligibility for entry into UAE.”

The Air India Airbus A320-200 that Mr. Oberoi flew on is just under six years old and has the registration number VT-EXE. The aircraft was delivered to Air India by Airbus new in 2015, and it is configured to seat 168 passengers.

26/06/21 Mark Finlay/Simple Flying

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Kumkum Bhagya Actor Zeeshan Khan's Plan to Board Flight in Bathrobe Thwarted by Airport Staff

TV actor Zeeshan Khan was planning to create a Guinness Book Of World Records by becoming, he claims, the first person to board a flight in a bathrobe. Of course he was stopped at the airport where the staff asked him to dress more appropriately.

The actor posted a short video clip where he is seen walking inside the airport donning a bathrobe. He seemed quite amused by the fact that everyone was giving him attention because of the way he was dressed. In the clip, Zeeshan says that he will create history by becoming the first person to travel in a flight wearing a bathrobe and that his name would be enlisted in the Guinness Book Of World Records.

However, the Air India staff thwarted his plans and told him that travelling in a bathrobe is not allowed. “This is worn in a bathroom," one staff member is heard saying. “Air India staff is a bummer," says a dejected Zeeshan as he goes to change.

This surely made for an out-of-the-box airport look, but unfortunately for Zeeshan, it only lasted a short while. The actor has been posting a lot of pictures on Instagram lately, clearly showing he is totally comfortable in the look.

Earlier, the actor had opened up on the harrowing practice of casting couch in an interview with ETimes. He said, “I believe every actor at some time, in his/her life has had to face this horrible truth. When you’re here, you can’t skip it - therefore I think almost everyone has experienced the phenomenon."

26/06/21 News18.com

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Alliance Air to link Delhi with four non-metros next month

Mumbai: An ATR flight to connect Delhi, Ahmedabad, Nashik, Pune and Belagavi will be launched Alliance Air on July 12, said the airline on Friday.

The wholly owned subsidiary of Air India will operate these routes its 70 seater ATR 72-600 aircraft. Among the direct flights to be operated are Delhi – Ahmedabad, Ahmedabad – Nashik, Nashik – Pune and Pune - Belagavi.

"All of these sector flights will give the travellers multiple options for further connectivity," said the airline For instance: Flight AI 9887 departs Delhi at 6.20 am and arrives into Ahmedabad at 8.35 am. The same flight/aircraft will depart Ahmedabad at 09.05 am and arrive in Nashik at 10.20 am, only to depart Nashik at 10.50 am and arrive in Pune at 11.55 am after which the same aircraft departs Pune at 12.25 pm and reaches Belagavi at 13.35 pm. The return flight would also see the same aircraft operating the five city route.

25/06/21 Manju V/Times of India

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Flights from Ozar airport to restart

Nashik: Airlines have chalked out plans to restart operations to and from the HAL-managed airport at Ozar, around 20 km from Nashik city.

While one private airline has already started operations on May 1, connecting Nashik with Ahmedabad, Alliance Air has announced that it will start operations on July 12. The airline said that its Nashik-Pune flight will be extended to Belagavi, while the Nashik-Ahmedabad flight will be extended to Delhi.

An official from Alliance Air said they have made changes in the previous routes and planned two hopping flights from Nashik to Delhi via Ahmedabad, and another hopping flight from Nashik to Belagavi via Pune. “We have already started bookings on two routes from Wednesday midnight. At present, we have no plans to start the Nashik- Hyderabad flight, but we will take a call on it later,” said the airline official.

Another private airline has also announced to start a return flight from Nashik to Belagavi from July 2. A low-cost private airline, which had started air services from Nashik to Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Delhi in November 2020, had stopped operations in April. It has decided to resume the routes from September.

Manish Rawal, chairperson of the aviation committee of the Ambad Industries & Manufacturers’ Association, said this is a positive development. “Four airlines had connectivity from Nashik to Delhi, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Belagavi and Pune. But they had stopped in April. Now, one airline has already started Nashik-Ahmedabad flight, while two others are restarting from next month,” he said.

25/06/21 Tushar Pawar/Times of India

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Air India Overtakes SpiceJet To Become Second Largest Domestic Carrier

As the second wave impacted traffic in May, there has been a change in the list of India’s biggest airlines. Air India has officially overtaken SpiceJet to become India’s second-largest airline, with a market share of over 20%. However, total capacity and passenger traffic dropped to a pandemic-era low due to the surge of cases in India.

According to DGCA traffic data, May saw a shuffling of airline rankings in India. While IndiGo remains the biggest airline in India, and grew its market share slightly to 55.3%, there were changes further down the list. Most notably, Air India overtook SpiceJet to become India’s second-largest airline by passengers carried in May.

SpiceJet’s market share slipped from 12.3% to 9.4%, while Air India’s jumped from 12% to 20.3% between April and May. However, the flag carrier’s increase is also due to the shrinking market share of GoAir, AirAsia India, and Vistara.

It is important to note that May is a bit of an anomaly. The start of the month saw COVID-19 cases in India reach global highs, reaching over daily 414,000 cases at the start of the month. This meant passenger traffic nosedived, as travelers were understandably scared to get on planes. In total, only 2.1 million passengers took to the skies in May 2021, down from 7.8 million in March ’21.

While Air India’s gains show a big jump in passengers carried, passenger load factors (PLFs) tell a different story. SpiceJet continued to have the highest load factor in May as well, at 64%. Meanwhile, Air India’s PLF fell to a meager 39.3%, meaning less than 40% of its flights were full on average during the month.

This means SpiceJet’s decision to cut capacity likely helped preserve cash as it tried to survive this crisis. Meanwhile, Air India continued to operate capacity and deepened its losses, which are being funded by the government for now.

GoAir had the second-highest PLF in May at 63.3%, only down from 65.7% in April, although its market share slipped to an all-time low of 3.0%. IndiGo’s PLF slipped from 58.7% to 51.2% as it continued to fly a large part of its network and carried 1.17 million passengers.

Traffic data from June will shed light on whether the change in rankings was a pandemic anomaly or a permanent shift (which seems likely). While traffic has increased in recent weeks, it remains far below levels even in seen in early 2021. This means carriers continue to burn cash at a high rate and fly fewer flights.

24/06/21 Pranjal Pande/Simple Flying

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Lessons not yet learned: reflecting on the bombing of Air India 182

Written for Daily Hive by Taleeb Noormohamed, former Director of the Review of the Bombing of Air India 182. He is a community volunteer and the CEO of a major online marketplace for apparel and home goods:

While working for the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, I had the honour and privilege to act as the Director of the Review of the Bombing of Air India 182 and Special Advisor to Bob Rae, the Independent Advisor to Minister McLellan, in the aftermath of the “not guilty” verdict in the bombers’ trial.

Our role was to identify deficiencies in Canada’s national security organizations and recommend institutional and policy changes to prevent future attacks. Most importantly, we vowed the victims would never be forgotten. This work was one small way that we could honour the memory of those who died so tragically.

Our report, “Lessons to Be Learned,” detailed the victims’ families’ anger that “this tragedy has been insufficiently understood & embraced as a Canadian event.” We worked to try and change this by memorializing each of the victims, working hand in hand with the victims’ families, who couldn’t have been more dignified or patient with us through the lengthy – and sometimes humiliating – process.

We pushed to establish June 23 as a National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Terror and to build memorials to the victims in Vancouver, Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal and in Ireland, where the plane came down to its watery grave, along with 329 innocent souls.

We built each memorial with love, and most importantly, with the guidance and direction of the victims’ families. This ought to have been an easy process – who would oppose a memorial to the victims of Canada’s most devastating terrorist attack?

Unfortunately, we learned it would not be as simple as we had hoped. When we sought to build the Vancouver memorial, there were staff of the Vancouver Park Board who fought hard against having the victims’ names included, worried about the “controversy” these names on a memorial might cause. We were only able to make the named memorial a reality by enticing the Park Board with funding to build a new play area for kids – something the Board wanted to do but couldn’t afford, to be built alongside the proposed memorial in Stanley Park. The children’s park would act as a way to remember the 86 children who perished in the bombing – but also, sadly, to incentivize the Park Board to agree to the victims’ names appearing on the memorial.

The families fought hard to explain to officials the magnitude of the tragedy and its impact. Decency eventually prevailed, but that process was yet another insult to these families who had been let down by governments at all levels, for decades, who couldn’t see this problem as Canadian. The very sight of their loved ones’ names on the memorial was perceived as controversial. I often ask myself if the response might have been different had the names been more ‘Smith’ or ‘Wilson’ instead of ‘Singh’ or ‘Lakshmanan.’

Thanks to the hard work of these family members, the memorials now stand, yet still, the Air India bombing gets nowhere near the remembrance it deserves. A plot, hatched in Canada, in the worst terror attack ever perpetrated against Canadians – 280 of them killed – and 86 children murdered. Despite that, this horror is left out of the history of Canada in our schools or universities.

Today, at a time when we are more aware than ever of the impact of systemic racism and of our own unconscious biases, the Air India tragedy stands as an important lesson from which we have so much more yet to learn.

23/06/21 Negin Nia/DH News

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Cork remembers victims of Air India bombing

The victims of the 1985 Air India bombing were remembered by the people of Cork in a virtual ceremony today, on the 36th anniversary of the terrorist attack which took place off the west coast of Cork

All 329 passengers and crew on board Flight 182 from Montreal to New Delhi were killed when a bomb placed by Sikh terrorists exploded on the Boeing 747 about 160km off the Irish coast.

The ceremony, which usually takes place at the memorial garden in Ahakista, Co Cork, had to take place online for a second year as a result of international travel restrictions.

The memorial garden in Ahakista is dedicated to all those who died on board Air India flight 182 and has since become a cherished place for families to visit and remember their loved ones.

Cork County Mayor Cllr Mary Linehan Foley joined Canadian ambassador Nancy Smyth, and Indian ambassador Sandeep Kumar, together with Dr Padmini Turlapati, mother to victims Sanjay and Deepak Turlapati, for the online commemoration.

Cork County Council and the embassies to Ireland of India and Canada laid wreaths at Ahakista on behalf of the families of the victims and the respective nations, marking the 36th anniversary of the terrorist attack.

Marian Carey, principal of Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí, laid a wreath on behalf of the school, while students of Rusnacahara National School participated in the form of a musical recital.

Speaking at the commemoration, Mayor Linehan Foley said: “The devastating event that took place off the West Cork Coast brought tragedy to the lives of many families and brought the nations of Ireland, India and Canada together in mourning. 

The experience has taught us the importance of solidarity when faced with tragedy. Thirty six years on, solidarity has come to the fore of our relationships again, as we support each other through the global pandemic. 

"We will continue to show solidarity and support one another through our current struggles, so that we may come together at Ahakista again.”

23/06/21 Emer Walh/Irish Examiner

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Air India to resume flight operations from UAE June 24 onwards

Dubai: India's national carrier Air India will resume its flight operations from UAE Thursday onwards, weeks after the nation had suspended incoming flights from India due to the surge in coronavirus cases, an official statement said on Wednesday.

“Effective June 24, 2021 (10:00am) all Air India flights will operate from Terminal-1 of Dubai International Airport (DXB). All passengers booked to travel on or after June 24 are requested to report at Dubai Terminal-1,” Air India said in a statement here.

All passengers booked to travel on or after June 24 are requested to report at Dubai Terminal-1.

23/06/21 Times of India

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India-UAE flights suspended until July 6: Air India

Air India on Wednesday told passengers that scheduled passenger flights from India to UAE are suspended until July 6, 2021.

"In view of travel restrictions announced by the UAE government, flights between India and UAE are suspended till July 6, 2021. Please keep a watch on our Twitter handle and website for further updates," India's national carrier said in a tweet in response to a passenger's query.

The airline earlier said that it will resume flying to Terminal 1 of the Dubai International airport.

"Effective June 24, 2021, all Air India flights will arrive and depart from Terminal 1 of Dubai International Airport," the airline said on its website.

Dubai Airports on Sunday said it would reopen Terminal 1 at Dubai International Airport on Thursday after a 15-month closure due to the coronavirus pandemic.

23/06/21 Khaleej Times

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1985 Kanishka bombing showed heavy cost Khalistani terrorism could inflict on humanity: Indian envoy

The horrific terrorist bombing of Air India flight AI 182 in 1985 has revealed to the world the "heavy cost" that Khalistani terrorism could inflict on the humanity, the Indian envoy to Canada has said as he paid tributes to the 329 victims on the 36th anniversary of the 'Kanishka' tragedy.

Joining the families and friends of the victims in paying homage to all those who fell to the barbaric act of terrorism, most of them Canadians of Indian descent, on Wednesday, High Commissioner of India to Canada Ajay Bisaria said it remains the worst terrorist attack on Canada and no religion, faith or cause can justify such violence.

"The majority of the victims were Canadians, and the bombing was the result of a conspiracy conceived, planned and executed in Canada. This was principally a Canadian tragedy, a British tragedy, an American tragedy, a global tragedy. It is fitting that Canada commemorates this day as National Day of Remembrance of Victims of Terrorism. No religion, faith or cause can justify such violence," he said.

"This terrible incident revealed to the world the heavy cost that Khalistani terrorism could inflict on humanity," he said in his message.

The Montreal-New Delhi Air India 'Kanishka' Flight 182 exploded 45 minutes before it was to have landed at London's Heathrow Airport on June 23, 1985, killing all 329 people on board, most of them Canadians of Indian descent.

The bombing was blamed on Sikh militants in retaliation to 'Operation Blue Star' to flush out militants from the Golden Temple in 1984.

The Indian envoy, who paid tributes to the victims of the bombing at Commissioner's Park here, said the most enduring memorial to the victims will be rededicating to fighting and eliminating terrorism and militancy with strong determination and joint action.

The high commissioner also thanked Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for his message on the solemn anniversary, which is also recognised in Canada as the National Day of Remembrance for victims of terrorism.

The Consul General of India in Vancouver, Manish, visited the memorial at Stanley Park in Vancouver; Consul General of India in Toronto, Apoorva Srivastava, visited the memorials at Queen's Park and Humber Park in Toronto; the Representative of India to ICAO, Shefali Juneja, visited the memorial in Montreal to pay homage to the victims.

Representatives of victims of families were present at all the memorials. The gatherings were kept small to respect social distancing norms in view of COVID-19 pandemic related health measures.

24/06/21 PTI/Economic Times

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Govt likely to reactivate disinvestment process of Air India's ground handling subsidiary

Govt reactivates disinvestment of Air India's ground handling subsidiary, AIATSL. Sources tell ET Now that an inter-ministerial group met last week to review the cancelled EOI's that were received in 2019.

ET Now learns that govt will soon float a preliminary information memorandum for it soon and plans to sell it parallelly with Air India. 

Sources in the know share that cancellation of AIATSL disinvestment in 2019 was just a procedure to start the disinvestment process afresh. "We are working on final contours, and plan to release the bid document soon with all details." shares, a source on anonymity. 

An inter-ministerial group on disinvestment consisting of the DIPAM secretary, aviation secretary and officials from the Finance Ministry met last week to review the expression of interests received for AIATSL in 2019.

Sources share that govt is looking to start the process afresh and parallelly with the Air India sale. Govt is likely going to put more than 50% stake in AIATSL on sale. 

AIATSL is a fully owned subsidiary of Air India that is into ground-handling services that include baggage, cargo handling, and all other services provided to airlines on the ground.

21/06/21 Karishma Asoodani/ETNowNews.com

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Nair: Air India tragedy grows dimmer in Canadian memory with each passing year

Few Canadians will recognize June 23 as the anniversary of Canada’s worst instance of domestic terrorism. Many do not know that on that date in 1985, a bomb tore through the cargo hold of Air India 182 while in mid-flight, killing all 329 aboard. Among the dead were 280 Canadians. While June 23 was eventually declared the National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Terrorism, this tragedy grows dimmer in Canadian memory with each passing year. 

Meera Nair writes >>

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Air India to fly to Dubai airport T1 from June 24

Dubai: India's national carrier Air India will resume flying to Terminal 1 of the Dubai International Airport, the airline said.

"Effective June 24, 2021 (10am), all Air India flights will arrive and depart from Terminal 1 of Dubai International Airport," the airline said on its website.

Dubai Airports on Sunday said it would reopen Terminal 1 at Dubai International Airport on Thursday after a 15-month closure due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Over 40 international airlines will now gradually shift operations to the reopened terminal, the airport's main facility for foreign airlines, from terminal 2 and 3, it said.

Terminal 1, where the airport's Concourse D is located, has an annual passenger capacity of 18 million passengers. The airport, a major international transit hub, is capable of handling up to 100 million passengers a year.

"On June 24, 2021, the Terminal 1 and Concourse D facilities at Dubai International (DXB) will be reopening. To ensure we continue to offer a safe, smooth and easy airport journey for all our guests, we will be moving the operations of some airlines from Terminal 3 over to Terminal 1," Dubai Airports said on its website.

22/06/21 Khaleej Times

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BPCL and Air India selloffs gain pace as Covid second wave subsides

New Delhi: Contrary to fears that the selloffs of BPCL and Air India will be delayed till the next fiscal, the Centre now expects to complete the exercise in this fiscal as the second wave of the coronavirus subsides.

The financial bids will now be called in September against apprehensions the bids can only be called in the fourth quarter, officials said.

They said the Union cabinet would soon consider tweaking the foreign direct investment policy to allow 100 per cent ownership of a state-owned refinery by global players through the automatic route.

The draft share purchase agreement is expected to be finalised by late July-early August and the financial bids called around September.

Both the bidders of Air India and BPCL given virtual data room access and the government replying to their queries, officials expect the due diligence to get over in the next three months. They said the bidders are likely to begin site visits soon.

The Tata group and SpiceJet CEO Ajay Singh are the final two bidders for Air India. Both submitted expressions of interest (EoI) to the government in December 2020 and are expected to submit financial bids.

Meanwhile, Air India has announced the sale of its properties located across India.

21/06/21 R. Suryamurthy/Telegraph

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Air India has time till mid-July to challenge Cairn Energy's lawsuit

New Delhi: Air India has time till mid-July to challenge the lawsuit filed by Britain's Cairn Energy PLC demanding that a US federal court force the airline to pay a USD 1.26 billion arbitration award it had won against the Indian government in December last year, sources said.

Air India is controlled by the Indian government so much that they are "alter egos", Cairn had said in the lawsuit filed with the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. The court should hold the airline company liable for the arbitration award, the company had said.

A three-member international arbitration tribunal that consisted of one judge appointed by India had unanimously in December overturned levy of taxes on Cairn retrospectively and ordered refund of shares sold, dividend confiscated and tax refunds withheld to recover such demand.

The government of India, despite participating in the arbitration proceeding over four years, has not accepted the award and has filed a 'setting aside' petition in a court in The Netherlands - the seat of the arbitration.

With Cairn seeking to recover the award from state-owned entities such as Air India, the government has said it will contest any enforcement.

Air India has time till mid-July to file a plea contesting Cairn lawsuit, three sources aware of the matter said.

The airline, which is in the process of being privatised, is likely to argue that it is a separate entity and not the alter ego of the Indian government and cannot be forced to pay for any liability of the government, they said.

Cairn has identified USD 70 billion of Indian assets overseas for potential seizure to collect award, which now totals to USD 1.72 billion after including interest and penalty.

The assets identified range from Air India's planes to vessels belonging to the Shipping Corporation of India, and properties owned by state banks to oil and gas cargoes of PSUs, the sources said.

These assets are across several jurisdictions, they said without giving further details.

20/06/21 PTI/Business Standard

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Air India Privatization: No Employee Will Be Fired For 1 Year; Job Guarantee Like PSU Banks?

The employees of Air India, similar to the employees of Government Bank, will also be given job security for one whole year after privatization.

Recently, NITI Aayog, the public policy think tank of the Government of India, suggested that the employees of Government Banks that will be divested should be given a one year only job protection.

The government has drafted a request for proposal (RFP) that was also shared with shortlisted bidders. In this RFP, the government has recommended that the existing employees of Air India should be retained for one year after privatization.

Through this, the government is setting a precedent for all public sector undertakings (PSU), including banks, on the block for selloff.

In 2020, there was news that the Govt has allowed the new owners to not only sell their assets such as airplanes but also fire employees, in order to reduce losses and make profits.

When the new owners of Air India take over the state carrier, they can have the liberty to sell off these grounded aircrafts, and thus, fire employees who are no longer needed.

This has been confirmed by an unnamed Govt official, who said, “Looking at the prevailing conditions acting as an overhang on the aviation sector, the new entity acquiring AI will be allowed to sell a few aircraft or return them to the lessor. They are anyway grounded due to lack of demand. With some aircraft sold, the manpower requirement, too, will drop. Proportionately, there can be some layoffs..”

However, as per the current disinvestment rules, the new owners of Air India cannot fire any employee till the first year ends. 

20/06/21 Radhika Kajarekar/Trak

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Air India To Sell Real Estate Assets; May Garner Up To Rs 300 Cr

Disinvestment-bound Air India is looking to raise Rs 200 to 300 crore by selling commercial and residential real estate assets in different parts of the country.

Air India on Friday sought bids for a slew of properties, including flats and plots.

'Air India through MSTC invites e-auction bids for sale of the properties located across India,' according to a public notice.

A residential plot and a flat in Mumbai, five flats in New Delhi, a residential plot in Bangalore, and four flats in Kolkata, are among the properties that have been put on sale.

Besides, a booking office and staff quarter in Aurangabad, a residential plot along with Airline House in Bhuj, six flats in Nashik, booking office in Nagpur and a residential plot in Thiruvananthapuram and two flats in Mangaluru are for sale, as per the notice.

'We are expecting the auction of these properties should fetch around Rs 200-300 crore for AIAHL,' a senior official told PTI.

The bids would be open on July 8 and close on July 9.

The government is in the process of deciding on the final contours for the disinvestment of loss-making Air India.

19/06/21 Business World

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