Aviation Sector In India

Extended duty limits could threaten flight safety: Pilots' union to DGCA

Federation of Indian Pilots warns that DGCA's temporary relaxation in flight duty limits for Air India long haul flights could heighten fatigue risks and compromise safety

Air India finds misuse of its leisure travel policy, initiates actions

Air India has detected large-scale discrepancies in the utilisation of its leisure travel policy, involving more than 4,000 employees and has initiated corrective actions, including imposing penalties on the erring staff, according to sources. Loss-making Air India was acquired by the Tata Group in January 2022, and the airline, which has faced multiple headwinds in recent times, is also in the midst of implementing an ambitious transformation plan. The airline has more than 24,000 employees. The sources in the know told PTI that the large-scale discrepancies in the use of Air India's Employee Leisure Travel (ELT) policy were detected after a detailed internal investigation. The ELT policy allows a specified number of free air tickets for individual employees and their nominees, including spouse and parents. These are subject to certain conditions. Many employees were found to have misused the policy by showing those not related to them as relatives to avail the benefits. Some were

Iran war exposes vulnerabilities for airlines in global aviation network

Global airlines have seen billions of dollars wiped from their market capitalisation on the surging cost of fuel and uncertainty about when safe operations can resume

Airlines seek govt support as Iran war hits ops, raises pricing pressure

Airlines warn prolonged West Asia conflict could disrupt operations and raise costs as jet fuel prices surge, routes lengthen, and insurance premiums climb, prompting calls for regulatory relief

UK asks Air India to explain Boeing Dreamliner fuel-switch incident

Air India said in a statement it had completed a precautionary re-inspection of the ​switches and found no issues, and would 'respond to the UK regulator accordingly'

Protectionism in bilateral rights not good for anyone: Etihad CEO

Indian carriers are doing very well and have no reason to fear competition, says Antonoaldo Neves

Turbulence in India's skies as duopoly strains aviation sector boom

India's skies over the past decade have shifted from a battleground of about half a dozen carriers to a near-duopoly

IndiGo cancels 175 flights as pilot shortage crisis enters third day

The crisis is a major setback for the two-decade-old airline that built its reputation on being punctual, coining the tagline "IndiGo Standard Time" when it shut plane gates well before departure time

Air India to operate relief flight to bring 228 passengers from Ulaanbaatar

Air India will operate a relief flight on Tuesday to bring back 228 passengers who are stranded in Ulaanbaatar after their San Francisco-Delhi flight was diverted to the Mongolian capital on Monday due to a technical issue. The relief flight will return with the passengers on Wednesday morning, the airline said. There were 245 people in the plane, including 228 passengers and 17 crew members, a source said on Monday. "Air India will be operating a relief flight to ferry the passengers of flight AI174 (San FranciscoDelhi of 02 November), which was diverted to Ulaanbaatar on Monday. The ferry flight AI183 is scheduled to depart Delhi this afternoon and return with the affected passengers on Wednesday morning," the airline said in a statement. The relief flight will be operated with a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. The statement also said the airline along with local authorities and the Indian Embassy in Mongolia, has been looking after the passengers and crew, including providing t

Air traffic controller shortage widens US flight delays amid govt shutdown

Continued staffing shortages in air traffic control facilities around the country were again causing delays at airports on Friday as the government shutdown neared the one-month mark. US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has been warning that travelers would start to see more flights delayed or cancelled as the nation's controllers continue to work without pay during the shutdown, which began Oct 1. Every day there's going to be more challenges, Duffy told reporters Thursday outside the White House after a closed-door meeting with Vice President JD Vance and aviation industry leaders to talk about the shutdown's impact on US travel. The Federal Aviation Administration reported staffing-related delays Friday at a number of airports, including in Boston, New York City, Nashville, Houston, Dallas and Newark, New Jersey. The airports in Boston, Nashville and New York City were experiencing delays averaging two hours or longer. Aviation analytics firm Cirium says flight data showed a

Image India denying bilateral flying rights is 'wrong': IndiGo CEO

Pieter Elbers says India is being selective, not restrictive, in granting bilateral flying rights; adds IndiGo is focusing on mitigating grounded aircraft issues

IndiGo to boost connectivity to UK with increased flights to Manchester

Additionally, IndiGo has recently announced the launch of direct, daily flights to London Heathrow from Mumbai, effective October 26, 2025

oneworld Alliance considers Indian airline partner as market expands

Given that many of its members currently serve India, the alliance is also considering ways to leverage their joint presence in country like with a loyalty deal or a joint lounge initiative, CEO said

Delhi Airport's upgraded Terminal 2 to reopen on October 26 with new tech

Delhi Airport's refurbished T2 will resume operations on October 26 with 120 daily flights of Air India and IndiGo, featuring self-baggage drop and India's first autonomous aerobridges

Kolkata-bound IndiGo flights returns to Nagpur after suspected bird hit

A Nagpur-Kolkata IndiGo flight returned to the airport here following a suspected bird hit after take-off on Tuesday morning, a senior airport official said. As a precautionary measure, the plane, carrying 160 to 165 passengers, had to return to the Nagpur airport, the official told PTI. The flight has been cancelled, the official added.

DGCA staffing crisis a threat to aviation safety system: Parl panel

A Parliamentary panel on Wednesday suggested a time-bound plan to grant administrative as well as financial autonomy to DGCA and flagged that the staffing crisis at the regulator is an "existential threat to the integrity of India's aviation safety system". Besides, the committee said the current imbalance, where aircraft induction is outpacing airport growth, is putting unsustainable pressure on existing facilities, degrading service quality, and dangerously straining safety margins, as it pitched for developing a comprehensive National Capacity Alignment Plan to synchronise airport infrastructure development with airline fleet induction schedules. The Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture -- headed by Rajya Sabha member and JD(U) leader Sanjay Kumar Jha -- submitted its report on the 'Overall Review of Safety in the Civil Aviation Sector' on Wednesday. One of the recommendations is to establish a time-bound mechanism for the closure

World's biggest passenger jet, Airbus A380, is becoming costly to maintain

Two decades after its maiden flight, regulatory bulletins ordering repairs, inspections or replacement parts for the massive four-engined plane Airbus SE A380 are piling up

'Serious' safety violations: DGCA issues 4 show cause notices to Air India

The DGCA issues four show-cause notices to Air India for safety violations, including cabin crew deployment lapses and training deficiencies, following multiple incidents

Many Indian airlines spend more on publicity than passenger safety: Survey

Around 76 per cent of respondents in a pan-India online survey opined that many airlines in India are spending more on publicity than on passenger safety. The online survey conducted by LocalCircles revealed that as many as 64 per cent of these respondents had experienced at least one rough flight in the last three years, involving a difficult takeoff, landing, or inflight situation. The survey, which received 44,000 responses from citizens across 322 districts, assumes significance amidst a spate of incidents, both mid-air and on ground, reported recently. These included Tata Group-run Air India's Boeing 787-8 aircraft accident that crashed within seconds of taking off for London Gatwick from Ahmedabad last month, killing 241 of the 242 passengers on board and another 19 on the ground. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is investigating the crash and has already submitted its preliminary report. Also, on Monday, passengers on board Air India Kochi-Mumbai flight had

Preliminary report on Air India crash to give peek into jet's final moments

Preliminary findings indicated the fuel switches were turned off, though it's unclear whether it was accidental or intentional and whether any effort was made to turn them back on