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Akasa Air, which is all set to start international services this month, has decided to trim its budget for the next financial year starting April as part of cost control measures, according to two sources. When contacted, an airline spokesperson said it is always looking for prudent ways to control costs. The carrier, which commenced commercial flights on August 7, 2022, operates more than 20 Boeing 737 Max aircraft. The sources in the know told PTI on Monday that the airline has decided to reduce its budget for 2024-25 fiscal and the reduction could be up to 20 per cent compared to the current financial year. "As a cost-conscious business, we are always looking for prudent ways to control our costs without sacrificing safety, our customers' experience or the long-term health of the business. Cost consciousness does not apply to employee salaries," an Akasa Air spokesperson told PTI. "We take great pride in offering a market leading compensation package to each work group at the .
Boeing is in talks to buy Spirit AeroSystems, which builds fuselages for Boeing 737 Max jetliners, including the one that suffered a door-panel blowout in January, according to a person knowledgeable about the discussions. The timing of a deal or whether the two sides even reach a final agreement is uncertain, according to the person, who spoke about the private talks on condition of anonymity. The Wall Street Journal first reported the talks. The newspaper said Friday that Spirit hired bankers to consider strategic options and has held preliminary discussions about a sale back to Boeing, its former owner. Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems declined to comment. Shares of Spirit jumped 15% in afternoon trading. A deal could help Boeing respond to critics who have blamed the company's manufacturing problems in large part on outsourcing key work to Spirit and other suppliers. Boeing spun off Spirit in 2005 as part of a strategy to outsource the supply chain for its commercial planes. I
Aviation regulator DGCA on Monday said the checks of Boeing 737-8 Max planes have been completed satisfactorily. On Saturday, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) directed domestic airlines to immediately carry out inspection of emergency exits of all Boeing 737-8 Max planes in their fleets as an "abundant precautionary measure" in the wake of the Alaska Airlines incident. "These checks have been satisfactorily performed on the fleet of operational fleet of Boeing B737-8 Max aircraft by Air India Express (4), Spicejet (8) and Akasa (20)," DGCA said in a statement. Akasa Air fleet includes one B737-8200 aircraft which has a mid-cabin door on which the operational check has also been completed satisfactorily, it added. On January 5, Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft was involved in an incident of an in-flight departure of a mid-cabin door plug which resulted in rapid decompression of the airplane.
Alaska Airlines again grounded all of its Boeing 737 Max 9 jetliners on Sunday after federal officials indicated further maintenance might be required to assure that another inflight blowout like the one that damaged one of its planes doesn't happen again. The airline had returned 18 of its 65 737 Max 9 aircraft to service on Saturday following inspections that came less than 24 hours after a portion of one plane's fuselage blew out three miles above (4.8 kilometers) above Oregon on Friday night. The depressurized plane, which was carrying 171 passengers and six crew members, returned safely to Portland International Airport with no serious injuries. The airline said in a statement that the decision was made after receiving a notice from the Federal Aviation Administration that additional work might be needed. Other versions of the 737 are not affected. These aircraft have now also been pulled from service until details about possible additional maintenance work are confirmed with t