Page 41 - Air India

Merger into Air India likely by mid 2025, says Vistara CEO Kannan

Kannan emphasised that the airline is cash flow positive and will not require any capital infusion from its stakeholders in the near future

Air India's virtual travel assistant is now on Whatsapp. Details here

Air India's virtual travel assistant will help travellers to ask questions across a wide spectrum of over 1300 travel-related topics and access a host of features

Vistara expects all legal approvals for merger with A-I in 1st half of 2024

Vistara CEO Vinod Kannan on Monday said all legal approvals for its proposed merger with Air India are expected to be in place in the first half of 2024. In November 2022, Tata group announced the merger of Vistara with Air India under a deal wherein Singapore Airlines will also acquire a 25.1 per cent stake in Air India. At a briefing here, Kannan said the legal approvals for the merger are expected by the middle of 2024 and the operational merger is anticipated by early or middle of next year. He also said that all competition approvals are expected in the current quarter ending March. On September 1, 2023, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) approved the proposed merger. Currently, Vistara has 67 planes in its fleet. The airline is a joint venture between Tatas and Singapore Airlines.

Untrained pilots in fog: DGCA issues notices to Air India, SpiceJet

Hundreds of flights were delayed during the fog season in December

DGCA issues notice to Air India, SpiceJet for rostering untrained pilots

A senior DGCA official confirmed that the notice was issued to airlines after it was found that a large number of flight diversions that were reported at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi

Air India appoints P Balaji as chief of regulatory and corporate affairs

P Balaji resigned from telecom operator Vodafone Idea on Tuesday after a decade-long stint. He is set to assume his role at Air India on January 11

Aviation watchdog DGCA carried out 5,745 surveillance activities in 2023

Regulator DGCA carried out 5,745 surveillance activities with respect to airlines, airports and approved organisations in 2023 as part of its efforts to ensure compliance and enhance safety standards in the aviation space, The activities included 4,039 planned surveillance and 1,706 spot checks and night surveillance. Subsequently, the findings resulted in 542 enforcement actions, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a release on Wednesday. The number of surveillance activities rose 26 per cent last year compared to 2022. Also, the number of enforcement actions increased 77 per cent last year compared to 305 enforcement actions taken against non-compliant personnel, airlines, and other operators in 2022. These enforcement actions included financial penalties against airlines such as Air India, AirAsia (India), IndiGo and SpiceJet. Besides, the watchdog had temporarily suspended its approval to Air India's training facilities, as per the release. Enforcement acti

Air India to fly wide-body A350 jet from Jan 22 on domestic routes

Aircraft that has three-class cabin configuration will later be used for 'destinations across continents'

Air India's new Airbus A350 to enter commercial service on January 22

The first flight of the A350 aircraft will be between Bengaluru and Mumbai at 7:05 am on January 22

Pilot unions express concern as Air India 'threats of appropriate measures'

Pilot unions at Air India on Sunday expressed "concern" over the Tata Group-owned airline's alleged threat to the cockpit staff with "appropriate measures" if pilots report sick for duty. In a communication to Air India senior vice president for flight operations Manish Uppal on Sunday, Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) and Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) said that reporting illnesses without the "fear of reprisal" is in the interest of flight safety. IPG is the wide-body aircraft pilots' body at Air India while ICPA represents pilots who fly narrow-body Airbus 320 family aircraft of the full-service carrier. The copies of the letter have also been marked to Air India Chairman N Chandrasekaran, DGCA Vikram Dev Dutt, Air India Managing Director and CEO Campbell Wilson, among others. "We are writing to express our concern and objection regarding recent communications implying threats of appropriate measures for sick reporting," the pilot bodies said in the communication. Stating

Year Ender: 10 big events that shaped the Indian corporate world in 2023

From Hindenburg's report on the Adani Group to the signing of the biggest aircraft orders by Air India and Indigo, India saw several important corporate news in 2023. Here are the 10 most significant

Air India, Airbus in talks to set up Rs 3,500 crore pilot training facility

The facility is expected to be formed under a joint venture between the two companies where each will have a 50% stake

Delhi fog: Air India flyers can reschedule flights to and from IGI Airport

The passengers will be allowed to rebook any other Air India flight operating on the same route in the next three days free of charge

Air India's first wide-body A350-900 aircraft lands in national capital

Air India's first wide-body A350-900 aircraft, sporting new brand livery, arrived here from European aviation major Airbus' Toulouse facility in France. The aircraft, registered as VT-JRA, touched down at the national capital's Indira Gandhi International Airport at 1346 hrs, making the Tata Group-owned airline the first aircraft operator in India to have this type of aircraft in its fleet, a statement said. The delivery flight is operated using a special call sign AI350, it said. The aircraft is the first of Air India's 20 Airbus A350-900 on order, with five more scheduled for delivery through March 2024, the airline said. As part of its now rejigged 250 aircraft order with Airbus, Air India will acquire 40 A350s, comprising 20 each A350-900 and A350-1000 aircraft, along with 140 narrow-body A321neo and 70 A320neo planes. The arrival of the first Airbus A350-900 is, in many ways, "a declaration of Indian aviation's resurgence on the world stage," Air India Chief Executive Officer

Japan's SMBC lends $120 mn to Air India to buy A350-900 aircraft

Aircraft secured debt facility struck in GIFT City, says lender

Air India borrows $120 million from Japan's SMBC to buy Airbus plane

Japanese lender SMBC on Wednesday said the Tata Group-owned Air India has borrowed USD 120 million from it for purchasing a wide-body aircraft from Airbus. The transaction has partly financed Air India's purchase of an A350-900 aircraft from Airbus, which was delivered in October 2023, according to an official statement. SMBC said this is a secured debt facility through its Singapore branch, while Air India's GIFT City-headquartered arm AI Fleet Services is the borrower. The purchase is part of the mega announcement by the Tatas to buy a total of 470 aircraft from Boeing and Airbus, and AI has also contributed equity. According to some reports, an Airbus A350-900 aircraft is priced above USD 300 million. "SMBC Group is pleased to expand upon its long-established relationship with Tata Group through this deal," the lender's country head for India Hiroyuki Mesaki said. He added that this is the the bank's first-of-its-kind transaction for aircraft finance lease. Nipun Aggarwal, Ai

Air India starts rollout of new brand identity from Delhi, Mumbai airports

The new Air India livery will also feature on the A350 fleet and subsequently on other incoming aircraft

Air India gets DGCA's approval for maintenance of A350, A320 aircraft

Private carrier Air India said on Friday it has received the DGCA approval for engineering line maintenance of A350 and A320 aircraft. The Gurugram-based full-service airline is expecting to induct its first wide-body Airbus 350-900 plane in the fleet by year-end, which will make it the first air services operator in the country to have this type of aircraft. The airline plans to induct a total of six such planes in the first phase. The regulatory approval for engineering line maintenance of A350 is a major step forward in ensuring the smooth operation and maintenance of six A350 aircraft which is set to join the Air India fleet, Air India said in a statement. The first of these six planes is expected to land by the month end, it said. Along with this key approval, Air India engineers also received the DGCA certification for attending to any work related to the maintenance of A350 aircraft, it said. The airline said its engineering team has been gearing up to receive the A350 air

Air India unveils new uniform collection designed by Manish Malhotra

Private carrier Air India on Tuesday unveiled its new collection of uniforms, designed by Manish Malhotra, for its cabin and cockpit crew. The new uniforms will be introduced in a phased manner over the next few months, starting with the entry of service of Air India's first Airbus A350 aircraft, the company said in a statement. "Air India's crew uniforms are amongst the world's most storied in aviation history, and we firmly believe that Manish Malhotra's innovative ensemble will script an exciting new chapter for Air India's future narrative," said Campbell Wilson, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director at Air India. The crew's new uniform perfectly captures the essence of the airline's new identity, among others, he said. The female cabin crew attire features a ready-to-wear ombre saree with intricate patterns reminiscent of Indian heritage architecture (jharokha) and the Vista (new Air India logo icon), paired with a comfortable blouse and blazer, Air India said. "My ai

Air India ordered to pay Rs 2 lakh to passengers for multiple flight delays

The NCDRC said in its order that in the event of flight cancellations or major delays, passengers are entitled to necessary services