Page 23 - Airlines

Officials gauging possibility of 4 bolts missing before Alaska Air take-off

Federal investigators say a door panel slid up before flying off an Alaska Airlines jetliner last week, and they are looking at whether four bolts that were supposed to help hold the panel in place might have been missing when the plane took off. The comments on Monday from the National Transportation Safety Board came shortly after Alaska and United Airlines reported separately that they found loose parts in the panels or door plugs of some other Boeing 737 Max 9 jets. Since we began preliminary inspections on Saturday, we have found instances that appear to relate to installation issues in the door plug for example, bolts that needed additional tightening, Chicago-based United said. Alaska said that as it began examining its Max 9s, Initial reports from our technicians indicate some loose hardware was visible on some aircraft. The findings of investigators and the airlines are ratcheting up pressure on Boeing to address concerns that have grown since the terrifying fuselage ..

Found loose parts in door panels while probing Boeing Max 9 jets: Airlines

Federal investigators say a door panel slid up before flying off an Alaska Airlines jetliner last week, and they are looking at whether four bolts that were supposed to help hold the panel in place might have been missing when the plane took off. The comments Monday from the National Transportation Safety Board came shortly after Alaska and United Airlines reported separately that they found loose parts in the panels or door plugs of some other Boeing 737 Max 9 jets. Since we began preliminary inspections on Saturday, we have found instances that appear to relate to installation issues in the door plug for example, bolts that needed additional tightening, Chicago-based United said. Alaska said that as it began examining its Max 9s, Initial reports from our technicians indicate some loose hardware was visible on some aircraft. The findings of investigators and the airlines are ratcheting up pressure on Boeing to address concerns that have grown since the terrifying fuselage blowo

US investigators retrieve 737 MAX jet panel, Boeing shares sinks pre-market

A door plug tore off on Friday following takeoff from Portland, Oregon, en route to Ontario, California, depressurizing the plane and forcing pilots to turn back

iPhone lands in functioning condition after 16,000 ft fall from Alaska Air

A new-generation Apple Inc. iPhone landed intact, unlocked and with hours of battery life remaining on a Portland, Oregon roadside, according to a post on X by a user calling himself Seanathan Bates

DGCA confirms satisfactory checks on B737 Max after Alaska incident

Air India Express, SpiceJet, and Akasa Air have 32 operational B737-8 Max aircraft in their fleet in the country. None of the Indian airlines found anything adverse during the inspections

IndiGo hikes air fares, will charge up to Rs 2,000 for front row seats

Passengers will have to dole out up to Rs 2,000 for front seats having more leg room in IndiGo flights, with the airline hiking the charges. As per the fees and charges mentioned for various services on the airline's website, selecting a window or aisle seat in the front row of an A321 aircraft having 232 seats will cost Rs 2,000, while the amount is Rs 1,500 if it is the middle seat. The charges are the same for these seats in an A321 plane that has 222 seats and in an A320 aircraft having 186 seats. The same tariff is applicable for selecting these seats in an A320 aircraft with 180 seats, according to the airline's website. In the case of ATR planes, the charge for seat selection is up to Rs 500. Aviation analyst Ameya Joshi said the airline has increased the seat selection charge for the front row seats with extra legroom to up to Rs 2,000. Earlier, it was up to Rs 1,500, he added. There was no immediate from IndiGo on hiking the seat selection charge to up to Rs 2,000. Chan

What to know about Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 whose door blew off?

Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 made an emergency landing after a panel on the side of the plane blew off mid flight

Domestic carriers inducted a total of 133 planes in 2023, says DGCA

Domestic airlines inducted a total of 133 planes in 2023, which is 51 per cent higher on an annual basis, as they continued to expand their networks to meet rising passenger demand. Out of the total, 21 aircraft were taken by the carriers on wet lease. In a release on Thursday, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said that in line with the anticipated increase in aircraft inductions in 2024, it is "suitably enhancing its regulatory capacity to further speed up the regulatory approvals related to the induction of aircraft". Specific details about the measures to increase the regulatory capacity could not be immediately ascertained. "During the year 2023, the scheduled operators have inducted a total of 112 aircraft in their fleet against 81 aircraft inducted in 2022, which is an increase of 38 per cent. "Taking into account the 21 wet/damp lease aircraft, the total induction of aircraft stands at 133 as against the corresponding figure of 88 in the previous year 2022,

IndiGo withdraws fuel charge; airfares to reduce by up to Rs 1,000

The country's largest airline IndiGo on Thursday announced the withdrawal of fuel charge that was collected from passengers, a move that will reduce airfares by up to Rs 1,000 on certain long routes. In the wake of a spike in jet fuel prices, the airline started levying the fuel charge on each domestic and international ticket from October 6, 2023. The quantum of the fuel charge varied from Rs 300 to up to Rs 1,000 depending on the distance. The airline, which is expanding its operations, said the fuel charge has been withdrawn with effect from January 4, due to the recent reduction in Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) prices. "As ATF prices are dynamic, we will continue to adjust our fares and components thereof, to respond to any change in prices or market conditions," IndiGo said in a statement. Fuel cost accounts for a significant chunk of a carrier's operational costs. Last year, IndiGo was also the first Indian carrier to announce that they would levy fuel charge to offset the spi

FSSAI issues show cause notice to IndiGo for serving 'unsafe food'

Food safety regulator FSSAI has issued a show cause notice to the country's largest airline IndiGo for serving unsafe food to a passenger, days after a worm was found in a sandwich served onboard a flight. On Wednesday, the airline said it has received the show cause notice and would respond as per protocol. The incident happened onboard flight 6E 6107 from Delhi to Mumbai on December 29. The airline had apologised after the passenger shared a video on social media. On January 2, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) asked the airline to show cause why its licence should not be considered for suspension or cancellation and action be initiated as per Food Safety & Standards (FSS) Act for serving unsafe food to a passenger on the flight, according to the show cause notice. The airline has been given seven days to respond to the notice. An IndiGo spokesperson said the airline is in receipt of a "show cause notice from FSSAI with regard to a food item served on ...

5 dead, hundreds evacuated safely after planes catch fire at Haneda airport

A large passenger plane and a Japanese coast guard aircraft collided on the runway at Tokyo's Haneda Airport on Tuesday and burst into flames, killing five people aboard the coast guard plane, officials said. All 379 people on Japan Airlines flight JAL-516 got out safely before the Airbus A350 was fully engulfed in flames, Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito confirmed. The pilot of the coast guard's Bombardier Dash-8 plane escaped but the five crew members died, Saito said. The aircraft was preparing to take off to deliver aid to an area affected by a major earthquake on Monday, officials said. Television footage showed an orange fireball erupting from the Japan Airlines plane as it collided while landing, and the airliner then spewed smoke from its side as it continued down the runway. Within 20 minutes, all passengers and crew members slid down emergency chutes to get away. As firefighters tried to put out the blaze with streams of water, the area around the passenger plane's wing ..

Akasa Air set to close order for 150 Boeing 737 MAX narrowbody planes

Contract negotiations are ongoing and a deal is expected to be announced at Wings India, the country's largest civil aviation event scheduled for Jan. 18-21, said two sources familiar with ongoing ta

DGCA probes A-I plane hard landing at Dubai in Dec; airline derosters pilot

Aviation watchdog DGCA is probing the hard landing of an Air India A320 neo aircraft in Dubai last month, an incident in which the airline has derostered the pilot, officials said on Monday. The aircraft that operated a flight from Kochi to Dubai made a hard landing in Dubai on December 20 and the plane remained grounded there for almost a week, a senior DGCA official said. Air India said it has initiated a probe into the incident and the pilot concerned has been derostered pending investigation. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is probing the incident, the official said and added that the aircraft concerned returned to Mumbai on December 27, according to the official. Details about the number of passengers onboard and whether any one was injured could not be immediately ascertained. An Air India spokesperson said an investigation has already been initiated as per DGCA norms into the incident. "The pilot was appropriately trained and licensed to fly the aircraft.

Time-consuming training, pilot shortages causing fog-related flight delays

During the pandemic, only a few pilots could train on these simulators as these enclosed spaces carried a high risk of transmission, exacerbating the challenge with simulator availability today

Pratt & Whitney engines caused damage of Rs 10,000 crore to Go First: Wadia

Nusli Wadia said that P&W engines started failing right from the earliest delivery in 2017 'not just once, but several times'

Grounded plane with Indian passengers finally takes off from France

The departure of a Romanian aircraft carrying nearly 300 passengers, mostly Indians, to Mumbai was delayed on Monday as some of them did not want to return to their country of origin, media reports said on Monday, three days after being grounded by the French authorities at an airport near Paris over suspected "human trafficking." The situation was, for a time, confusing, according to Me Liliana Bakayoko, lawyer for the Romanian airline Legend Airlines. Speaking to BFMTV, she said that some passengers did not want to return to their country of origin and that they had refused to board the plane initially this Monday morning. "Some of the passengers would be unhappy with this return because they wanted to continue their journey to Nicaragua as planned, the French news broadcast television and radio network reported. According to the Le Monde' newspaper, the local prefecture, or official in charge, confirmed that the plane would indeed take off "but not before noon local time. Two .

Airlines can save Rs 1,000 cr annually with use of flexible airspace: Govt

Airlines will have potential savings of Rs 1,000 crore annually with the flexible use of airspace that helps in reducing flight time, fuel usage and carbon emissions, according to the civil aviation ministry. In a review of the aviation sector released on Saturday, the ministry also said that a record number of commercial pilot licences at 1,562 have been issued this year till December 18 by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). To address the issue of congestion at airports, the ministry said additional space has been created at various airports by restructuring the available terminal infrastructure to augment capacity at several passenger touch points. Meanwhile, the ministry said that earlier about 40 per cent of the airspace was unavailable for civilian use, resulting in aircraft adopting circuitous routes to reach their destinations. The Indian Air Force controls 30 per cent of the national airspace and out of that, 30 per cent has been released as upper airspace .

Christmas cheer: Spot airfares on major domestic routes remain in check

This month, the priority is to maintain fares at a reasonable level to ensure consistently high load factors

World's best and worst airports for 2023 offer plenty of surprises

This year's survey reflects data collected from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, plus survey responses from more than 15,800 passengers.

SpiceJet shows interest in acquiring bankrupt carrier Go First: Report

The lenders of Go First have been contemplating liquidation as they think it will lead to a better recovery as compared to selling it