Page 13 - Airline Industry

Go First lessors' request to repossess planes on hold, not rejected: DGCA

DGCA says can proceed to de-register Go First aircraft after moratorium lifted

Executives of crisis-hit Go First discuss revival plans with DGCA officials

Senior executives of crisis-hit Go First, which is undergoing insolvency resolution process, on Monday discussed its revival plans with officials of aviation regulator DGCA, according to a source. The meeting, held in the national capital, came against the backdrop of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), last week, asking the grounded airline to submit its revival plan within 30 days. The budget carrier, filed a petition for voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings on May 2, citing its inability to carry out operations due to non-delivery of engines by the US engine maker Pratt & Whitney. The plea of the airline, which has not flown since May 3, was admitted by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on May 10. "DGCA had called the entire management team of Go First on Monday to discuss the resumption plan. At the meeting, the team presented the road map for revival of operations," a source told PTI on the condition of anonymity. Without divulging specific ...

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

British Airways cancels flights over glitch ahead of busy holiday weekend

British Airways cancelled dozens of flights on Friday due to computer problems, disrupting the plans of thousands of travellers at the start of a busy holiday weekend. Most of the 42 affected flights were on short-haul routes to and from Heathrow, Europe's busiest airport. Computer issues on Thursday caused planes and crew to be out of position Friday, which was expected to be the busiest day for UK air travel since before the coronavirus pandemic. Other flights were delayed, as some passengers were unable to check in online. We're aware of a technical issue, which we have been working hard to fix, the airline said on its website. Travel is expected to be especially busy over the next few days as a three-day weekend coincides with the start of a weeklong holiday for most schools in Britain.

South Korean Asiana Airlines flight flies with open door, lands safely

A passenger opened a door on an Asiana Airlines flight that later landing safely at a South Korean airport Friday, airline and government officials said. Some people on board tried to stop the person from opening the door but it was eventually opened partially, the Transport Ministry said. The plane with 194 people was heading to the southeastern city of Daegu from the southern island of Jeju. The flight is normally about an hour, and how long the door was open wasn't immediately disclosed. Police detained the unidentified person who opened the door, the airline said. Their motive wasn't immediately known. The passengers included teenage athletes who plan to attend track and field competitions in Ulsan, another southeastern city. The incident terrified some passengers but no one was injured, though some passengers were assessed at a hospital, Asiana and Transport Ministry officials said.

German airline Lufthansa signs deal to buy stake in Italy's ITA Airways

German airline Lufthansa on Thursday signed a deal with the Italian government for a minority share in the long-struggling ITA Airways, formerly Alitalia. Lufthansa's industrial plan calls for revenues of 2.5 billion euros (USD 2.68 billion) this year, growing to 4.1 billion euros in 2027, the Italian Finance Ministry said in a statement. No financial terms were disclosed. The cashflow will allow ITA airlines to expand its fleet from 71 aircraft to 94 in the next four years, the statement said. The airline also foresees new hires to expand the workforce to 5,500. Under the strategy, Rome's Fiumicino airport will become one of the Lufthansa Group's hubs, as ITA Airways focuses on long-range flights. Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr also identified Milan, Italy's business and finance hub, as having potential for growth. The deal must be approved by EU competition authorities. ITA Airways and its Alitalia predecessor have long been searching for an industrial partner as the Italian airlin

DGCA asks Go First to submit comprehensive revival plan in 30 days

Aviation watchdog DGCA has asked crisis-hit Go First to submit a comprehensive plan for the revival of its operations, a source said on Thursday. The budget carrier, which is undergoing a voluntary insolvency resolution process, stopped flying on May 3. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) advised the airline on May 24 to submit within a period of 30 days a comprehensive restructuring plan for a sustainable revival of operations, the source at the regulator said. Further, the watchdog has asked the airline to furnish the status of availability of operational aircraft, pilots and other personnel, maintenance arrangements and funding, among other details, the source added. The source said the revival plan, once submitted by Go First, will be reviewed by DGCA for further appropriate action.

HC judge rejects pleas by Go First's lessors for release of leased planes

Justice Prathiba M Singh recused herself from hearing the four petitions without assigning any reason

SpiceJet hikes salaries for captain pilots to Rs 7.5 lakh per month

Budget carrier SpiceJet on Tuesday announced hiking the salary for its captains to Rs 7.5 lakh per month for 75 hours of flying as well as introduced a tenure-linked loyalty reward for them. Salaries of trainers and first officers have also been increased commensurately, according to a release. "Salary of captains has been increased to Rs 7.5 lakh-a-month for 75 hours of flying. The hike will be applicable from May 16, 2023," the airline, which completed 18 years of operations on Tuesday, said. The airline had revised salaries for its pilots in November 2022 wherein the salary of captains was raised to Rs 7 lakh-a-month for 80 hours of flying. A tenure-linked monthly loyalty reward for its captains of up to Rs 1,00,000 per month has also been announced. This amount will be over and above their monthly remuneration, the release said. Details about the number of pilots at the airline could not be immediately ascertained. In recent times, there have been delay in payment of salaries

Start-up Inxee Systems develops new smart visual docking guidance system

Startup Inxee Systems has developed a new Smart Visual Docking Guidance System (SVDGS) and it has been deployed at Kolkata's Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport. The system will help provide enhanced precision and safety for pilots. Developed indigenously by the startup, the system is ready for mass commercial deployment at all airports and can support all aircraft types, a release said on Monday. The system has been developed under the Airports Authority of India (AAI) startup initiative 'Innovate for Airports' and it is funded by the civil aviation ministry. According to the release, the system's functionality has been fully certified and accepted by AAI. It has successfully docked all aircraft types, including A320 family, Boeing B737-800, B737-800 Max as well as well as large aircraft, including A330, A350, B777 and B787-800.

Skyrocketing airfares force many tourists to visit Kashmir by bus

Skyrocketing airfares have forced many tourists to visit Kashmir by bus this summer. Due to high demand, a return air ticket from Delhi to Srinagar these days can cost anywhere between Rs 25,000 and Rs 40,000. This makes some holiday destinations abroad such as the UAE, Thailand and Malaysia look cheaper with return air ticket per person costing as low as Rs 18,000. "We travelled to Kashmir by bus. We could have come by air but tickets were so costly. At such prices, we could go to Dubai as well," Rajesh, a tourist from Gujarat, told PTI. Varsha Mankwada also took a bus to Kashmir in view the expensive airfares. "The air tickets were so expensive. To and fro fare was around Rs 25,000. So, we came through travel agency by bus. Comparatively it was reasonable," she said. Tushar Bhai, hailing from Gujarat, travelled to Srinagar by a flight from Mumbai. "I came here from Mumbai. We planned travel according to our budget but it has cost us dear. From Mumbai to Srinagar, it costs us Rs

Ex-Jet Airways executive Sanjiv Kapoor joins airline service Saudia Group

Aviation industry veteran Sanjiv Kapoor, who stepped down as the CEO-Designate of Jet Airways last month, has joined Saudia Group. Formerly known as Saudi Arabian Airlines, Saudia is the national carrier of Saudi Arabia. "I am thrilled to share that I have joined the Saudia Group as Advisor to His Excellency Ibrahim Al-Omar, Director General of the Group," he said in a tweet on Wednesday. Kapoor was associated with a number of airlines, including SpiceJet, Vistara and Go First, in various capacities. He was the CEO-Designate of the grounded Jet Airways, for which the Jalan Kalrock Consortium has emerged as the winning bidder under the insolvency resolution process. In a Linkedin post, Kapoor said that aviation will play a key role in the Saudia Arabia's Vision 2030, which aims to attract 100 million visitors to the leading Gulf nation. "One of the three pillars of Saudia Arabia's Vision 2030 is the transformation of its advantaged strategic location into a global hub connecting t

7 passengers suffer sprain due to turbulence on AI's Delhi-Sydney flight

Seven passengers onboard an Air India flight from the national capital to Sydney on Wednesday suffered "minor sprain" due to severe turbulence, according to a senior DGCA official. The official at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said that no hospitalisation was required. Air India B787-800 aircraft VT-ANY operating flight AI-302 from Delhi-Sydney encountered severe turbulence. "During the flight seven passengers reported minor sprain. Cabin crew provided first aid with the assistance of a doctor and a nurse traveling as passengers, using an onboard first aid kit," the official said. Air India's airport manager at Sydney arranged medical assistance on arrival and only three passengers took the medical assistance, the official added. A statement from Air India on the incident is awaited.

Bank of Baroda makes Rs 500 crore provision for Go First exposure

Out of this exposure, about Rs 1,000 crore is collateralised by tangible securities and by way of corporate guarantees

Bombay Burmah Trading Corp's Go First exposure falls to Rs 65 crore

Bombay Burmah will also make a claim with the resolution professional appointed by the National Company Law Tribunal. If the airline restarts early, the losses of the banks would reduce, say corporate

Passenger molests crew member on Sharjah-Amritsar flight, arrested

An inebriated passenger on an IndiGo flight from Sharjah to Amritsar was arrested for allegedly molesting a cabin crew member, police said on Monday. Rajinder Singh, who hails from Kotli village of Jalandhar in Punjab, got into a heated argument with the cabin crew member and allegedly molested her during Saturday's flight, the police said. She brought the incident to the other crew members' notice. The accused was allegedly in a drunken state, police said. The crew members then notified the Amritsar control room about the matter and the assistant security manager of the airline lodged a police complaint. The accused was arrested upon his arrival at the Shri Guru Ramdas ji International Airport here, they said. Singh was booked under sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code, the police said.

Healthy traffic, pricing to cut down airlines' losses of Rs 50-70 bn: Icra

Indian airline industry is likely to cut down its losses to about Rs 50-70 bn, owing to healthy passenger traffic and ability to shore up their yields, ICRA said in a sectoral report

Go First insolvency: NCLAT to pass order on lessors' petitions on May 22

A two-member bench headed by Chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan on Monday reserved its order after completing the hearing on the the three petitions

Go First's insolvency flight leaves trail of concerns for aircraft lessors

At least 50 requests to take back as many leased planes from two Indian airlines in less than two weeks. Petitions from lessors seeking to enforce rights under international norms and concerns over a possible spike in the risk premium for leasing aircraft for domestic carriers. Cash-strapped Go First being admitted for insolvency resolution proceedings on a voluntary plea and subsequent moratorium has left a trail of concerns and uncertainties for aircraft lessors with respect to India, the world's third-largest aviation market. Currently, Indian carriers have around 700 planes and some of them, including Air India, are expanding their fleet. Most of the commercial aircraft in the country are operated through the sale and lease-back model, and there are concerns that developments related to Go First could push leasing costs higher. Indian carriers are projected to require more than 2,200 aircraft in the next 20 years. Advisory firm Primus Partners' Co-Founder & CEO, Public Policy .

Indian aviation mkt 'booming'; to expand routes with IndiGo: Air France-KLM

Bullish on the "booming" Indian aviation market, European airline major Air France-KLM is keen to expand routes and capacity as well as increase its codeshare routes with IndiGo, according to senior executives. Air France-KLM, which has increased its seat capacity by 22 per cent compared to 2022, operates up to 46 weekly flights connecting four Indian cities -- Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai. It also has a codeshare agreement with the country's leading carrier IndiGo for more than 30 cities. "We want to increase capacity, routes... We would like to expand with IndiGo... the ambition is to do more international (flights)," Claude Sarre, General Manager - India subcontinent at Air France-KLM, told PTI. Plans are under discussion in this regard, he added. Codesharing allows an airline to book its passengers on its partner carriers and provide seamless travel to destinations where it has no presence. India is one of the world's fastest-growing aviation markets and Air France KL