Page 35 - Air India

Air India's Delhi-Vancouver flight faces delay, rescheduled for Sunday

Air India's flight from the national capital to Vancouver, which was to take off early Saturday morning, faced an inordinate delay due to technical issues. The airline said the flight has been rescheduled and is now expected to depart early morning on Sunday. In a span of three days, this is the second instance of an Air India ultra long haul flight getting delayed for long hours. After a delay of more than 30 hours, the airline's Delhi-San Francisco flight, that was originally scheduled to depart at around 1530 hours on Thursday, took off at 2155 hours on Friday. "AI185 scheduled to operate Delhi-Vancouver of 1 June was delayed because of technical issues and subsequently due to crew coming under the mandatory Flight Duty Time Limitations," an Air India spokesperson said in a statement on Saturday. The spokesperson said the flight is expected to leave early morning on June 2 and regretted the inconvenience caused to passengers due to the operational disruption. The flight was ..

Delhi-San Francisco flight delay: A-I apologises, offers $350 voucher

Air India has apologised and offered a travel voucher of USD 350 each to the passengers of the San Francisco flight that took off from the national capital after a delay of more than 30 hours. There were 199 passengers in the flight, according to a source. After a delay of over 30 hours, the flight took off from the national capital at 2155 hours on Friday and landed at San Francisco at 1245 hours (IST) on Saturday. The flight duration was around 16 hours. "Please allow me to sincerely apologise, on behalf of Air India, for the extended delay in bringing you to San Francisco, which was caused by several technical delays and other operational constraints," Air India Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Klaus Goersch said in a letter to the flight's passengers. As a gesture of apology, Air India has offered a "travel voucher worth USD 350" for future travel with the airline, the letter dated May 31 said. The passengers will also have the option to credit the amount .

Air India failing 'time and again' in taking care of passengers: DGCA

Regulator issues show cause notice to airline as passengers suffer on "inordinately delayed" flights

DGCA issues show cause notice to Air India for excessive flight delays

Aviation watchdog DGCA on Friday issued a show cause notice to Air India for inordinate delay of at least two international flights and failure to take due care of passengers. The regulator mentioned about the inordinate delay of two international flights -- AI 183 from Delhi to San Francisco on May 30 and AI 179 from Mumbai to San Francisco on May 24. Both flights were delayed and passengers were put to discomfort due to insufficient cooling in the cabin. Further, repeated incidents of passengers being put to discomfort by Air India in violation of DGCA norms have come to the notice of the regulator, as per the show cause notice. The regulator also noted that Air India is "time and again failing in taking due care of passengers", and not complying with its provisions related to 'facilities to be provided to passengers by airlines due to denied boarding, cancellation of flights and delays in flights". "Air India is hereby called upon to show cause as to why enforcement action shall

Fliers faint without AC after Air India flight delayed by over 20 hours

The flight to San Francisco, which was supposed to take off yesterday afternoon, will depart at 11 am today, after a delay of over 20 hours

AI Express cabin crew union, airline management discuss various issues

Representatives of a cabin crew union at Air India Express and airline management on Tuesday held discussions on salary and other issues during the meeting convened by the labour department as part of the ongoing conciliation proceedings, according to a source. The next meeting is scheduled for July 2, the source said. The Air India Express Employees Union (AIXEU), which represents a section of the cabin crew at the airline, had filed a complaint before the labour department last year. Following the complaint, a conciliation process is happening under the Industrial Disputes Act. Room sharing, lack of proper support, revised salary structure and alleged differential treatment of experienced crew members of Air India Express are among the issues flagged by the union. The source, on the condition of anonymity, said various issues were discussed at the meeting held on Tuesday, including those related to salary and accommodation for cabin crew during layovers. At the meeting, the ...

Air India's Mumbai-San Francisco flight takes off after inordinate delay

Air India's flight to San Francisco from the city took off on Saturday evening after an inordinate delay due to multiple reasons. The flight, which was originally scheduled to take off at 1600 hours on Friday, was delayed by over 25 hours, due to multiple reasons and rescheduled for Saturday. Again on Saturday, the flight was initially expected to fly out in the morning but finally took off for San Francisco around 1730 hours, according to an official. Details about the number of passengers could not be ascertained. On Friday, passengers had to wait inside the aircraft for more than five hours before the flight was rescheduled for Saturday. An airline official had said the Boeing 777 plane, which was scheduled to take off at 1600 hours, was first delayed due to a technical glitch, then some passengers deboarded and subsequently, another passenger fell ill. After deboarding the passenger who started feeling unwell around 1917 hours, it was noticed that by the time the flight would

Air India's Mumbai-San Francisco flight delayed by 5 hours; rescheduled

Passengers of a San Francisco-bound Air India flight from the city had a tough time on Friday as they had to wait inside the aircraft for more than five hours. The flight was later rescheduled for Saturday. An airline official said the Boeing 777 plane, which was scheduled to take off at 1600 hours, was first delayed due to a technical glitch, then some passengers deboarded and subsequently, another passenger fell ill. After deboarding the passenger who started feeling unwell at around 1917 hours, it was noticed that by the time the flight AI 179 would have reached San Francisco, there would be night-landing restrictions and also, the crew would have crossed the flight-duty limitations. The official said the flight has been rescheduled for Saturday and would take off at 1030 hours. The number of passengers onboard the aircraft could not be immediately ascertained. According to the official, AI 179 from Mumbai to San Francisco, scheduled to depart at 1600 hours, was delayed due to

Air India appoints Sanjay Sharma as CFO with effect from June 10

Air India on Friday announced the appointment of Sanjay Sharma as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) with effect from June 10. Sharma will succeed Vinod Hejmadi, who is retiring after more than three decades with Air India. In a release, the airline said Sharma has more than three decades of experience in the corporate finance, investment banking and real estate sectors. He was the CFO at Tata Projects Ltd. Earlier, he has served as the CFO at Tata Realty Infrastructure Ltd, and Managing Director, Head of Equity Capital Markets, at Deutsche Bank Group, among other roles. "We are pleased to have Sanjay joining the leadership team and look forward to his contribution to the ongoing transformation at Air India. We also thank Vinod for his long service to the company, and for his vital role in its transition to private ownership and, thereafter, its subsequent transformation," Air India CEO and MD Campbell Wilson said. Tata Group took control of loss-making Air India from the governmen

Boeing, Singapore mishaps spur surge in web searches on flight safety

A spate of high-profile airline accidents this year have left a lasting impression on the public

Air India announces salary hike, annual performance bonus for pilots

The new compensation structure, effective April 1, will see first officers and captains receive a monthly salary hike of Rs 5,000, while commanders' pay will be raised by Rs 11,000

Air India gives increments to staff, announces performance bonus for pilots

Air India on Thursday announced annual salary increments for its staff, and also introduced an annual target performance bonus for pilots, according to sources. This is the first appraisal process after Tata Group took over the loss-making airline a little over two years ago. On Thursday, Air India CHRO Ravindra Kumar GP announced salary increments for employees, with effect from April 1, 2024, as well as performance bonus payouts for FY 2023-24 based on company and individual performance, sources said. They said that Air India, which is in the process of revamping itself under a five-year transformation plan, is providing competitive salary increments to attract and retain talent as part of larger efforts to have a performance-driven and meritocratic culture among the employees. Air India has around 18,000 employees. The airline has rolled out annual appraisals for all employees, who joined before December 31, 2023, including ground staff, cabin crew and pilots. The appraisals ar

Canada police warns son of acquitted AI bombing suspect of life threat

Hardeep Malik is not the only one to receive such notice; others associated with the Khalistan separatist movement in British Columbia have also been cautioned

April domestic air travel growth slows to 13-month low; Air India grows

Modest growth attributed to multiple factors plaguing the aviation industry

A-I ceased to be 'State' or its instrumentality post disinvestment: SC

Air India Limited (AIL) ceased to be State or its instrumentality under Article 12 of the Constitution after its disinvestment and take over by the Tata Group in January 2022, and no case of alleged violation of fundamental right would lie against it, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday. The apex court dismissed the appeals filed against a September 20, 2022 verdict of the Bombay High Court which had disposed of four writ petitions instituted by some employees of AIL over alleged stagnation in pay and non-promotion of employees and delay in payment of wage revision arrears, among others. The top court noted that the petitions before the high court had claimed violation of Articles 14 (equality before law), 16 (equality of opportunity in matters of public employment), and 21 (protection of life and personal liberty) of the Constitution. A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Sandeep Mehta noted that the high court had disposed of the pleas on the ground of non-maintainability of the writ

Integration of frequent flyer programs of Vistara, Air India begins

The integration of approximately 7,000 employees of Vistara will begin in June, with its merger into Air India targeted to be completed by the year-end, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said on Monday

Air India Express cancels some flights due to rostering system issues

Air India Express cancelled some flights on Wednesday as the airline grapples with crew rostering system issues, according to sources. The Tata Group-owned carrier, which generally operates around 380 flights daily, has moved to a new rostering system. Since there are some issues with the system, it is impacting the scheduling for cabin crew and pilots, the sources said. At the Delhi airport, seven Air India Express flights -- four departures and three arrivals -- for the period between 1.50 am and 8 pm have been cancelled for Wednesday, sources said. There were also flight cancellations at a few other airports, the sources added. However, the total number of flight cancellations could not be immediately ascertained. There was no comment from Air India Express. The latest development comes a week after the airline witnessed disruptions due to a section of cabin crew reporting sick to protest against the alleged mismanagement at the carrier. The strike was called off on May 9 and

'A-I Express sees no flight cancellation on Tue, operations near normal'

A week after being hit by disruptions due to a cabin crew strike, officials said the operations of Air India Express have almost normalised and there was no flight cancellation on Tuesday. Protesting against alleged mismanagement at the carrier, a section of the cabin crew had reported sick last week. As a result, the carrier had to cancel hundreds of flights since last Tuesday. An official said that operations have normalised and all the scheduled flights were operated on Tuesday. Another official said the airline operated around 345 flights and no flights were cancelled. This is the first day since last Tuesday when there has been no cancellation and out of the total services today, around 201 were international flights, the official added. The strike by the cabin crew was called last Thursday and the Tata Group-owned carrier also withdrew termination letters issued to 25 cabin crew following a conciliation meeting convened by the chief labour commissioner in the national ...

Merger with Vistara may be completed by December, says Air India CEO

Vistara, a joint venture between Singapore Airlines and Tata Group with a ratio of 51:49, is currently undergoing a merger with Air India to create a unified full-service carrier

AI Express fiasco: Woman couldn't see hospitalised husband before death

In a heartbreaking incident, a woman, whose husband was in a hospital ICU in Oman, was unable to see him one last time before he died there due to the cancellation of her Air India Express flight to that country last week, her family alleged. The woman, Amrita, had booked tickets for May 8 to see her husband in Muscat, but on reaching the airport here, she was told that the flight was cancelled. Her protest at the airport earned her a ticket for the next day on another Air India Express flight, but unfortunately, that too was cancelled and she had to abandon her travel plans altogether. On Monday, news of her husband's death reached her from Oman. "It was so unfair that she could not see him for one last time. We begged the airline to accommodate us on some other flight so that we could see him for one last time. But they did not do anything," Amrita's mother told a TV channel. She also said that Amrita's husband had said that he wanted to see his wife and kids and that is why the