Page 54 - Air India

Less than 50 US citizens on flight that made emergency landing in Russia

The US department of State has said that there were less than 50 American citizens on board the San Francisco-bound Air India flight that had to make an emergency landing in Russia's remote town of Magadan. "We understand that there were less than 50 US citizens aboard that flight. We also understand that a relief aircraft is expected to arrive later today to assist the Air India flight and the passengers continue on with their route, Vedant Patel, the deputy spokesperson of the State department, told reporters on Wednesday at his daily news conference. The Flight AI173 was diverted to Magadan on Tuesday due to an engine glitch in the Boeing 777-200 LR aircraft. The flight, carrying 216 passengers and 16 crew, landed safely, the Tata Group-owned private carrier said in a statement Tuesday evening. Responding to a question, Patel deferred to Air India to speak to any other specifics about their further movements and any of the technical issues. "We are not aware of any outreach fro

Air India passengers stranded in Russia forced to sleep on school floor

The Air India spokesperson said that the ferry flight is carrying food and other essentials for our passengers

Diverted Air India Delhi-US flight lands in middle of Russia airspace row

A Russian ban on some foreign carriers using its airspace, in retaliation for Western sanctions over the Ukraine war, has redrawn air routes and upset business models for some airlines

Monitoring situation: US after Air India flight diverted to Russia

The United States has said that it is continuing to closely monitor the situation after a San Francisco-bound Air India flight made an emergency landing in Russia.Principal Deputy Spokesperson, for the US Department of State, Vedant Patel has said that the department is aware of the US-bound flight that had to make an emergency landing in Russia on Tuesday.Flight AI173 from Delhi-San Francisco was diverted to Magadan in Russia due to an engine glitch, the airline said in a statement on June 6 evening.The flight with 216 passengers and 16 crew landed safely.Addressing a press briefing here, Patel said, "I'm not able to confirm how many US citizens were aboard the flight at this time. It was a flight that was bound for the United States. So, it is, of course, likely that there are American citizens on board."Responding to a media query, the deputy spokesperson said that Air India is sending a replacement aircraft."As you probably also saw, there's public reporting from Air India that ...

Air India relief flight carrying engineers to leave for Russia in afternoon

A source said it has taken longer to secure all overflying and landing clearances for the relief flight

US-bound Air India flight diverted to Magadan in Russia after engine glitch

The airplane faced the problem mid-flight, making the pilot to take immediate action to ensure the safety of all onboard

India hugely growing aviation market but underserved: Air India CEO

India is a hugely growing aviation market but also underserved, especially on international routes, Air India chief Campbell Wilson said on Monday. The Air India CEO and Managing Director was speaking at a session at the IATA World Air Transport Summit. While India is a "hugely growing market", it is also an underserved market, as there are less than 50 wide-body aircraft (with domestic carriers), he said. Earlier this year, Air India placed an order for 470 planes with Boeing and Airbus. In the context of the aircraft order, Wilson said there is a significant imbalance that the airline is trying to address. He was referring to the shortage of wide-body planes in India. Wilson also said that a few years ago, 13 Boeing 787 planes were grounded as Air India did not have funds and there was also a requirement for "30,000 spare parts". He was responding to a query related to supply-chain issues. The Tata Group took over the loss-making Air India from the government in January last

Lufthansa seeks deeper partnership with Air India, plans to expand flights

Lufthansa's CEO, Carsten Spohr speaks about the expansion plans of the airline and partnership with Air India that could make it the largest airline group connecting India and Europe

India deserves to have more non-stop overseas flights: Air India CEO

Asserting that India deserves to have international non-stop connectivity to more destinations, Air India chief Campbell Wilson has said the country has in some respect not been able to control its own destiny as a consequence of not having a healthy domestic airline industry. Wilson, who is piloting Air India's massive expansion plans in terms of fleet as well as routes, also said that IndiGo succeeding well and Tata airlines coming together provides a good competitor to the strength of IndiGo. "It should hopefully allow for a market that is more sustainable, ideally profitable that will allow airlines to invest in new products, expand network and also lead India to assume its place on the world aviation stage...," he told PTI in a recent interview. Tata Group took over Air India and Air India Express from the government in January last year. Currently, the group has four carriers under its fold -- Air India, Air India Express, AIX Connect (earlier known as AirAsia India) and ...

Dated seats, IFE in long-haul aircraft to be replaced from '24: A-I CMD

Air India has mandated London-based product design companies JPA Design and Trendworks to assist with the cabin refurbishment exercise

Air India Express to start Haj flights from Kannur, Kozhikode on June 4

Air India Express will start operating Haj flights from Kannur and Kozhikode on June 4. In a release on Friday, the airline said the Haj charters will be carried out in two phases. In the first phase, it will operate 44 flights from Kozhikode and 13 flights from Kannur to Jeddah and plans to carry 8,236 Haj pilgrims. In the second phase, the carrier will operate 44 flights from Medina to Kozhikode and 13 flights from Medina to Kannur. "This is the first time the airline is operating Haj services after winning the government-released bid for the two cities in Kerala," the release said. According to the release, the airline has introduced colour-coded pouches for elderly pilgrims to carry their boarding passes and brightly coloured luggage tags for easier identification and to prevent baggage mishandling. The airline will transport Zam Zam water on the return ferry flights and keep it at Kozhikode and Kannur airports. Upon arrival, each pilgrim will be offered a 5-litre can of Zam Z

AI sends out questionnaires to assess customer satisfaction levels: CEO

As it works on improving services, Air India on Friday said it is sending out questionnaires to customers to every day and has received good response through its digitalised customer feedback mechanism. Air India, which was taken over by Tata Group in January last year, started sending questionnaires to travellers to identify areas for improvement to meet customer expectations in March. The Net Promoter Score (NPS)-based customer feedback mechanism has received more than 1,40,000 responses in three months, the airline said in a release. In his message to staff on Friday, Air India CEO and Managing Director Campbell Wilson said that over the last three months, the airline has expanded NPS to cover the entire physical customer journey, from check-in, through to lounges, in-flight experience and the arrival process, and will be extended to the online and call centre experiences. "Questionnaires are sent every single day, and so far we've had more than 1,40,000 responses. "Pleasingly,

On-time performance of Air India, SpiceJet drops significantly in May

Meanwhile, Tata group's other airlines-AirAsia India and Vistara-were able to improve their OTPs in May

Airlines scour globe for capacity as aircraft shortage takes toll

The massive aircraft deals announced this year are testament to the optimism about a post-pandemic rebound

Air India Express, AirAsia India recruit over 800 cabin crew in one year

Tata Group-owned Air India Express and AirAsia India together have recruited more than 800 trainee cabin crew members in the last one year. Besides, Air India Express, which is the international budget arm of Air India, has added over 280 pilots during the one year from June 2022. The induction process, which started in June last year attracted a diverse pool of candidates, through joint walk-in recruitment drives conducted across various metro cities and small towns, Air India Express said in a release on Thursday. Last year, Tata Group acquired Air India along with Air India Express and a 50 per cent stake in ground handling firm Air India SATS Airport Services Pvt Ltd (AISATS). The Group currently fully owns three airlines -- Air India, Air India Express and AirAsia India while it holds 51 per cent ownership in its joint venture airline with Singapore Airline, Vistara, which is also being merged with Air India. The large-scale recruitment is a significant milestone in the ongo

Unruly passenger behaviour incidents not helpful, says Air India CEO

Air India needed to and has taken a firm line on unruly passenger behaviour onboard aircraft, which is also an international airline industry problem, and it is clearly not helpful when such incidents happen, according to Air India chief Campbell Wilson. There have been multiple incidents of unruly passenger behaviour, including abusing and assaulting of cabin crew, onboard planes in recent months. In various cases, the aviation regulator DGCA has also taken action against airlines for certain lapses in reporting and not taking appropriate measures with respect to such incidents. In an incident of unruly passenger behaviour, a male passenger onboard an Air India flight from Goa to Delhi on Monday physically assaulted a crew member. Wilson, who is the CEO and Managing Director of Air India, said that unruly passengers are an international industry problem and that such incidents continue to happen. "As an airline, we needed to and have taken a firm line on unruly behaviour onboard .

Air India passenger abuses, assaults crew member on flight on May 29

In a statement issued by Air India, the airline said that a passenger on their flight AI882 on May 29 behaved in an unruly manner

Air India growing, hiring 600 cabin crew members, pilots every month: CEO

Bullish on growth prospects with a "healthy start" to Air India's five-year transformation plan, its chief Campbell Wilson on Monday said the airline is hiring 550 cabin crew members and 50 pilots every month and also expects to have six wide-body A350 planes in its fleet by the end of this year. After taking over the reins from the government in January last year, Tata Group has put in place various measures to turn around the fortunes of the loss-making carrier, including placing the largest order for 470 planes and expanding international operations. Talking about the airline's hiring plans, Wilson, who is the Managing Director and CEO, said there is no target per se, but about 550 cabin crew members and 50 pilots are coming in and trained afresh every month. "In the case of cabin crew members, it is about ten times and in the case of pilots, it is about five times on an annual rate of the pre-privatised airline," he told PTI in an interview in the national capital. According to

As Go First seeks to plug exit, 200 pilots accept Air India's job offer

Go First CEO announces retention allowance and longevity bonus

Air India relaxes privilege leave norm for staff approaching retirement

Air India has relaxed the new norm related to the accumulation of privilege leaves for those employees retiring in the current and next financial years. In March, the Tata Group-owned carrier revised its policy with respect to privilege leaves for both permanent and full-term contract staff to align the policy with prevailing market conditions. From April 1 onwards, Privilege Leaves (PLs) accumulation limit for all employees is 60 days in a particular financial year. Against this backdrop, the airline has made a relaxation for staff approaching retirement. In his message to the staff on Friday, Air India CEO and Managing Director Campbell Wilson mentioned the airline deciding in March that all PLs beyond 60 days would be encashed. "Subsequently, many of you approaching retirement asked whether this could be deferred until your superannuation. "Our HR team followed up with the external tax authorities and happily were able to reach an agreement that, for those superannuating in th