Page 16 - Airlines

Air India to start Delhi-Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam flights from June 1

Air India will start direct flights from the national capital to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam from June 1. The airline will use A320 neo aircraft with a two-class configuration to operate the flights five days a week -- Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, according to a release on Wednesday. The flights will commence from June 1. "The new service will also enable convenient one-stop connections to Vietnam via Delhi for travellers from the US, Canada, UK, and Europe," the release said. Currently, Air India flies non-stop flights to Singapore, Bangkok and Phuket (Thailand), and Yangon (Myanmar).

Air India gets feedback on new cabin crew uniforms, including fabric issues

Air India has received feedback on the new cabin crew uniforms, including about fabric issues, and will soon start their production for all the cabin crew after taking into consideration the inputs, according to people in the know. In December, the Tata Group-owned airline unveiled the new uniforms, designed by Manish Malhotra, for its cabin and cockpit crew. Initially, the uniforms were introduced with much fanfare for crew members of the carrier's A350 aircraft. When contacted, an Air India spokesperson on Monday said production programme for the uniforms for all its cabin crew members will start in about a week's time. Two persons in the know said there are some issues with the fabric used for the new uniforms, including that colour was fading fast. Another person said the feedback on the uniforms will be taken into consideration before starting production for all crew members. "Air India can confirm that the uniform sizing and production programme for our over 8,000-strong ca

Spirit Airlines to defer Airbus deliveries, layoff 260 pilots to save cash

A snag with Pratt & Whitney Geared Turbofan (GTF) engines has forced Spirit to ground some of its A320neo aircraft, pinching the company at a time when it is already grappling with a cash crunch

Air India hired over 5,700 people in FY24, including over 3,800 flying crew

Air India hired more than 5,700 employees, including over 3,800 flying crew, in the financial year ended March 31, as part of the five-year transformation plan to revive the fortunes of the airline. As part of expanding its presence, the carrier launched 16 new routes, including 11 international ones, in the last financial year. It inducted four A320 neos, 14 A321 neos, eight B777s, and three A350s during this period. In his message to the staff on Friday, Air India CEO and MD Campbell Wilson said the airline has onboarded the first batch of cadet pilots who will soon commence ground training with its partner flying schools in the US later this month. "Also, after much hard work, our cabin crew team also cleared the backlog of training batches -- and marked the release-to-service of our 4000th new crew member since privatization!," he said. According to a communication highlighting the activities done during the take off phase of the five-year Vihaan.AI plan, the airline hired more

Vistara expects normal ops by May, stretched roster caused disruptions: CEO

Full-service carrier Vistara expects operations to normalise by May as the flight disruptions mainly caused by a stretched roster for pilots are getting addressed, its CEO Vinod Kannan said on Friday. He also said the concerns raised by the pilots are being reviewed and discussed by the airline. The Tata Group airline cancelled many flights earlier this week due to the non-availability of pilots and has also been forced to temporarily reduce the overall flight operations in order to stabilise the situation. The carrier cancelled more than 125 flights over three days from April 1. In an exclusive interview with PTI on Friday, Kannan said the need to cancel flights at short notice will not happen after this weekend as the buffer situation for pilots is stabilising. "It might be a reduced schedule... we are back to normal as far as the flights that are operating... the need to cancel flights at short notice will not happen after this weekend," he said. According to him, the buffer ..

Two pilots' unions flag work culture concerns at Tata Group airlines

Two pilots' groupings on Thursday said the problems raised by Vistara pilots are not isolated but indicative of systemic issues across Tata Group aviation entities. In a detailed letter to Tata Group Chairman N Chandrasekaran, the Indian Commercial Pilots' Association (ICPI) and the Indian Pilots' Guild (IPG) urged the group to engage in a constructive dialogue with the pilot community. Tata Group has four airline ventures -- Air India, Air India Express, AIX Connect (formerly AirAsia India), and Vistara. IPG represents Air India pilots operating the airlines' wide-body fleet while ICPA represents pilots operating the single aisle aircraft. In recent days, Vistara has been forced to cancel more than 100 flights due to non-availability of pilots who are protesting against pay revision and other issues. "The pilots of Vistara have been steadfast in their advocacy for fixed 70 hours compensation, improved working conditions, and stable roster. "After thorough assessment and consulta

Domestic and international air traffic cross pre-pandemic peak in FY24

International air traffic in India saw faster growth than domestic air traffic in 2023-24

DGCA asks Vistara to provide information about flight cancellations, delays

Airline asked to comply with regulations on assisting passengers affected due to cancellations or delays

As Vistara officials continue to protest for pay revision, 15 pilots quit

As a section of Vistara pilots continue to protest against pay revision, at least 15 senior first officers resigned from the airline recently, sources said on Tuesday. The airline operates a little over 300 flights daily and has a fleet of 70 planes comprising A320-family aircraft and Boeing 787s. Over the past few weeks, the Tata Group airline has been grappling with simmering discontent among pilots, with many first officers of its A320 fleet reporting sick. The sources said at least 15 senior first officers resigned from Vistara and joined a domestic budget carrier. A Vistara spokesperson declined to comment on the resignations. The airline has around 800 pilots and the senior first officers who resigned had completed their conversion training that allowed them to operate wide-body Boeing 787 planes. However, they did not get the duty for flying the 787 aircraft, the sources said. The airline, which is in the process of merging with Air India, has introduced new contracts for

SpiceJet to soon receive Q400 plane as part of settlement with lessor NAC

SpiceJet on Tuesday said it will soon be receiving a Q400 aircraft as part of the settlement reached with lessor Nordic Aviation Capital (NAC) last year. The airline has settled all past liabilities for the Q400 planes leased from NAC, and under the settlement agreement it already has five Q400 aircraft. "The ownership of these planes has been transferred to SpiceJet," the airline said and added that the sixth Q400 plane is en route to India from Germany. The aircraft is expected to arrive in Delhi soon. The carrier, which is taking various measures to deal with multiple headwinds, recently announced four major settlements with key aircraft lessors. According to the airline, these settlements will result in substantial savings of Rs 1,252 crore.

Vistara flight cancellations: Why is the airline facing 'crew unavailability'

Approximately 50 Vistara flights were cancelled, and several others were delayed on Monday, April 1, after a section of pilots went on leave, forcing the airline to curtail its schedule. Reports sugge

Aviation body issues rules for deplaning passengers during tarmac delays

Zulfiquar Hasan, Director General of BCAS, said that they have prepared the guidelines and issued to airport operators and airlines

Indian carriers' focus is now on international market to boost revenues

According to Joshi of Network Thoughts, during next few years share of Indian carriers in itn'l traffic will rise, because Air India will induct more capacity and so will IndiGo, with XLR aircraft

Clear skies ahead: IndiGo sets the course for strong growth altitudes

Airline maps out its FY25 route, powered by double-digit pax growth, 11-13% year-on-year capacity boost, and expansion into 10 new destinations

Ombudsman for aviation sector is a good idea: Air India CEO Campbell Wilson

The MoCA spokesperson had on March 18 said the ministry will call a meeting to "compile" the views of stakeholders and review the proposal regarding Ombudsman

Air India Express will operate over 360 daily flights in summer schedule

Air India Express will operate more than 360 daily flights during the summer schedule, with international services set to rise by over 20 per cent. The airline is in the process of completing the merger with AIX Connect (earlier known as AirAsia India) and the schedule includes flights of both carriers. In a release on Monday, Tata Group-owned Air India Express said it will offer over 360 daily departures during the summer schedule. Compared to last year's summer schedule, there will be an increase of over 25 per cent in domestic flights and more than 20 per cent rise in overseas services. "This translates to an additional 55 domestic flights and 19 international flights, bringing the total to 259 domestic and 109 international departures," the release said. Generally, the summer schedule is from the last Sunday of March till the last Saturday of October. In 2024, the summer schedule will be from March 31 till October 26. Among others, the airline will be increasing its frequenci

Biggest challenge facing new Boeing CEO is winning over other airlines

Boeing's new management faces a myriad of challenges - criminal investigations, eroding finances, regulatory scrutiny, market share losses to rival Airbus SE, etc.

Lufthansa, ITA Airways deal may lead to higher prices: EU watchdog

"The removal of ITA as an independent airline may have negative effects on competition in these already concentrated markets," the Commission said in a statement

FAA weighs curbing new routes for United Airlines after series of mishaps

The FAA already is suspending United's ability to approve and promote pilots to fly different aircraft models, two of the people said

Airlines will operate 24,275 weekly domestic flights in summer schedule

Indian airlines will operate a total of 24,275 weekly domestic flights during the summer schedule starting from March 31, a nearly 6 per cent increase compared to the year-ago period. The number of weekly departures is just 2.30 per cent higher as against 23,732 flights being operated by the scheduled carriers in the ongoing winter schedule, according to aviation regulator DGCA. The summer schedule for 2024 will be from March 31 to October 26. The DGCA said there will be 24,275 departures per week which have been finalised to/from 125 airports as per the summer schedule. "Out of these 125 airports, Azamgarh, Aligarh, Chitrakoot, Gondia, Jalgaon, Moradabad and Pithoragarh are the new airports proposed by the scheduled airlines," the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in a release on Thursday.