Page 40 - Air India

Air India utilising group airlines' engineering skills for maintenance work

Tata Group-owned Air India is utilising the engineering skills available with group airlines to carry out more maintenance work of the aircraft under its own quality control amid multiple instances of its legacy planes facing operational issues, according to a senior company official. The official also said the airline is keen to lease aircraft but the market is very tight, especially for wide-body planes. After the takeover by the Tata Group in 2022, loss-making Air India has been making efforts for improvement and has embarked on a five-year transformation plan. To address the engineering issues more effectively, the official told PTI that Air India is bringing the work of line maintenance component in-house as well as using the licensing and skills of the group airlines to do some things in certain types of aircraft. Such an approach will help Air India in doing more "maintenance work under our own quality control", the official said on condition of anonymity. Air India is sett

'India a big market; good to have stronger Lufthansa-Air India partnership'

India is a big aviation market and a stronger partnership between Air India and Lufthansa is good, as efforts of the Star Alliance are to bring the partners together to provide a unique value proposition for the passengers, the airline grouping's CEO Theo Panagiotoulias has said. Air India and Lufthansa are part of the Star Alliance, whose 26 member airlines come together at more than 50 global hubs to offer smooth connections across a global network. A management company, based in Frankfurt and Singapore, coordinates Star Alliance projects and activities. It includes airport co-location, digital infrastructure, frequent flyer integration and joint business lounge projects to improve the travel experience. Talking to PTI on the sidelines of IATA annual general meeting in Dubai this week, Panagiotoulias was bullish about the prospects in the Indian market that offers "so much of opportunities". "The alliance is to bring the partners together to provide a unique value proposition...

NCLT approves merger of full-service carriers Vistara with rival Air India

The merger, first announced in November 2022, will include Vistara, which is 49 per cent owned by Singapore Airlines being absorbed into Air India

NCLT nod to Air India-Vistara merger; to form world's largest airline group

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Thursday approved the merger of Air India and Vistara, paving the way for the creation of one of the world's largest airline groups. Post-merger, which was announced in November 2022, Singapore Airlines will have a 25.1 per cent stake in Air India. Vistara is a joint venture between Singapore Airlines and Tata Group. In a 31-page order, the Chandigarh bench of the NCLT approved the "composite scheme of arrangement" involving Talace, Air India and Vistara. All are part of the Tata Group. Air India expects the merger to be completed by the end of this year. A two-member bench of the Chandigarh bench of NCLT observed that the scheme has already received necessary approvals from the shareholders and creditors of both airline companies. Moreover, it has also received applicable approvals including that of fair trade regulator the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Besides, "no sustainab

Air India's rise could impact three Gulf hubs, says Saudia Airlines

Calling AI a "sleeping giant", Muehlen said: "They have a legacy. They have the hearts of the Indian population. If they get it right, it would be more at the expense of the super-connectors"

Plan to double international transit traffic in 5-10 years: Air India exec

Says 'out-of-the-box thinking' needed to develop Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru as transit hubs

Indian carriers divided on more bilateral rights to Gulf countries

Granting more rights to them would be equivalent to pulling rug from under our feet: Air India CEO

Air India: Now lock your flight rate for two days by paying nominal fee

Air India's 'Fare lock' feature allows passengers to secure a fare for two days by paying a nominal fee, allowing them to confirm their travel plans

Air India in 'good position', to retrofit over 100 planes: CEO Wilson

Air India will be retrofitting more than 100 planes, including 40 wide body planes, and has ordered around 25,000 aircraft seats as part of revamping the fleet, its chief Campbell Wilson said on Wednesday. Emphasising that "plenty of things" are going on as part of the transformation at Air India, Wilson said the focus is on integration, growth, optimisation and customer experience. As part of Tata Group consolidating its aviation business, AIX Connect, formerly AirAsia India, is getting merged with Air India Express and Vistara with Air India. There is "immense flexibility" for the group whether it is full or low cost services and "we are in a good position," the Air India CEO and MD said at the CAPA India Aviation Summit here. According to him, Air India will be retrofitting more than 100 aircraft and has also ordered around 25,000 seats as part of retrofitting the planes. About costs for the airline industry, Wilson said airfares have been underperforming overall inflation. Ai

India aviation industry losses to widen to $400-600 mn in FY25: CAPA India

Despite infrastructure limitations, India is currently the world's fastest-growing aviation market with demand surpassing the supply of jets

Air India ties up with Delhi Metro, DIAL to facilitate int'l check-ins

Air India on Tuesday said it has partnered with Delhi Metro and Delhi airport to facilitate check-in for international air passengers at two metro stations in Delhi. The check-in and baggage drop facility at the Delhi airport allows passengers to check in their baggage at the metro station, giving the outstation travellers the option to explore the city baggage-free. During this period, their baggage gets securely loaded onto the aircraft through an advanced automated infrastructure created by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL). Currently available for domestic air travel, this service will now be extended to international flyers and will remain operational at two Delhi metro stations-- New Delhi and Shivaji Stadium-- from 7 am to 9 pm, Air India said in a statement. It also added that the check-in can be done 12 hours to 2 hours prior to flight departure for domestic itineraries and four to two hours prior to departure for internatio

Air India's Delhi-Vancouver flight takes off after delay of 22 hours

Air India's Vancouver flight from Delhi of June 1 finally departed at 3.15 am on Sunday after a delay of nearly 22 hours, a source said. The flight was scheduled to take off at 5.30 am on Saturday but a "technical" issue forced the airline to reschedule it. "The Delhi-Vancouver flight of Air India, which was to depart on Saturday morning, finally left at around 3.15 am on Sunday," the source said. "AI 185...was delayed because of technical issues and subsequently due to crew coming under the mandatory Flight Duty Time Limitations," an Air India spokesperson had said in a statement on Saturday. This was at least the third time in the last one week that Air India's ultra-long haul flights had to face inordinate delay for one reason or the other. Earlier, after a delay of more than 30 hours, the airline's Delhi-San Francisco flight, which was originally scheduled to depart at around 1530 hrs on Thursday, took off at 2155 hrs the next day. However, despite the passengers' plight due

Airlines ride AI: Less work for agents, human-like responses for passengers

From human-like responses to reduced workload for customer service agents to utilisation of trillions of parameters for answering air passengers' queries, artificial intelligence is providing the technological tailwinds for Indian airlines as they cater to rising traffic. For Air India, which has embarked on a five-year transformation plan, Artificial Intelligence (AI) use will be "pervasive" and its generative AI virtual agent AI.g handles over 1,300 topics. And the country's largest airline IndiGo has AI chatbot 6Eskai that has 1.7 trillion parameters, allowing it to answer questions with ease. Also, the bot can understand written, typed language, and verbal instructions using speech-to-text models. Akasa Air, which describes itself as a "cloud-native and digital-native brand", said it will continue to invest heavily in proven technology solutions across all business functions. India, one of the world's fastest growing civil aviation markets, is seeing rising domestic air traffi

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