Page 57 - Air India

Air India puts together 'huge financing deal' for new fleet: CEO Wilson

Air India has put together a "huge financing deal" related to its new fleet in a remarkably quick time, according to its chief Campbell Wilson. On February 14, Air India announced a historic order for buying 470 aircraft, including 250 from Airbus and 220 from Boeing. Besides, there is an option to buy another 370 planes from the two plane makers. It was also the first time in more than 17 years that Air India, which was taken over by Tata Group from the government in January last year, placed orders for new planes. In his weekly message to the staff on Friday, Wilson said he wants to commend "the commercial, strategic procurement, finance, treasury and legal teams for successfully putting together a huge financing deal related to our new fleet in remarkably quick time...it was another historic achievement for the new Air India". Specific details could not be immediately ascertained. Wilson, in an interview with PTI last month, said that a lot of money is being invested in the ...

Air India flight with stranded passenger from Russia lands at San Francisco

Air India's non-stop flight AI-173 for San Francisco had taken off from Delhi on June 6 at 4.23 am and was scheduled to land in San Francisco the next day at 7 am (local time)

Air India to issue a refund to those affected by flight diversion on June 6

"We will fully refund the fare for your journey and, in addition, provide you a voucher for future travel on Air India,' the airline said

Air India flight carrying stranded passengers from Russia lands in US

An Air India flight carrying over 200 passengers stranded at Magadan in far east Russia since Tuesday, after the original aircraft had to be diverted there following a technical glitch, landed safely at San Francisco on Thursday. "All our passengers are being extended maximum on-ground assistance with clearance formalities and provided other necessary support," Air India said in a statement. On Wednesday, Air India had sent a ferry flight to Magadan, in Russia to fly 216 stranded passengers and 16 crew members onwards to their original destination -- San Francisco. "Flight AI173D landed safely in San Francisco (SFO) at 0007 Hours on 08 June 2023 (local time)," the carrier said. "Air India thanks government agencies, regulatory authorities, our staff and partners involved in supporting our endeavour to bring our passengers to SFO as soon as possible and in providing them care while they waited in Magadan, Russia," the carrier said.

Air India flight heads to San Francisco after emergency landing in Russia

The Air India flight from Delhi to San Francisco, which made an emergency landing in Russia's remote town of Magadan after it developed an engine glitch, on Thursday took off for its destination with all the 232 passengers that were on board, according to an official. Flight AI173 from Delhi was diverted to Magadan in Russia on Tuesday owing to an engine glitch, the Tata Group-owned private carrier said in a statement. The Boeing 777-200 LR aircraft, carrying 216 passengers and 16 crew, landed safely. Flight AI173 was diverted to Magadan on Tuesday due to an engine glitch in the Boeing 777-200 LR aircraft. On Thursday, a senior official of Air India said that Flight AI173D from Magadan, Russia (GDX) is now airborne for San Francisco (SFO), carrying all passengers and crew. The flight departed GDX at 1027 Hours on June 8 (local time) and is expected to arrive at SFO at 0015 Hours on June 8 2 (local time), he said. Air India has mobilised additional on-ground support at SFO to

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