Page 24 - Aviation Sector

DGCA plans to hire 400 tech staff in 1-2 yrs; increase offices to 19: Chief

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) plans to ramp up its technical staff to 1,100 by hiring another 400 people in the next one to two years as well as increase the number of offices to 19 as the watchdog strengthens the safety oversight capabilities, according to its chief Arun Kumar. Kumar, who will be superannuating on February 28 after being at the helm for nearly four years, described his tenure as a "roller coaster ride" during which various steps were taken to improve aviation safety and the regulator also dealt with multiple headwinds, including engine issues and safety concerns over SpiceJet. India's aviation safety oversight ranking jumping to the 55th position from 112th place earlier under the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) coordinated validation mission, rollout of eGCA for processes at the regulator, introduction of regulations for transgenders who want to be pilots as well as compulsory breath analyser tests for air traffic controllers are

Air India to add 4,200 cabin crew, 900 pilots after record aircraft deal

Air India has planned to hire over 4200 cabin crew trainees and 900 pilots in 2023 as the airline adds new aircraft and rapidly expands its domestic and international operations

Spicejet to consider capital raise amid losses, market share battle

Spicejet's market share slipped to 7.3% in January from 7.7% in December

India has enough potential for recurring aircraft orders: GE Aerospace

Leading engine maker GE Aerospace has said there is enough potential for recurring aircraft orders by Indian carriers as massive growth is happening in the country's civil aviation space. Against the backdrop of Tata Group-owned Air India placing firm orders for 470 aircraft, a top official of GE Aerospace also said that India, which is the world's third largest aviation market, has the potential for growth in both wide-body and narrow-body aircraft. Besides, GE Aerospace's Country Head for South Asia & Indonesia Vikram Rai told PTI that the supply chain situation will be better this year, compared to 2022. There are around 700 commercial planes flying in India, with a majority of them being narrow-body aircraft. The civil aviation ministry is also working on ways to make an international aviation hub for which Indian carriers will have to have more wide-body planes in order to carry international traffic. Referring to the aircraft orders, Rai said these orders are huge "but there

Air India's aircraft order ignites expectation from Indian aviation sector

From increased direct international air connectivity to being a showpiece of divestment programme to job creation in faraway US, Air India's mega 470 aircraft order has ignited myriad expectations in and about the world's fastest growing aviation market -- India. A raft of factors -- surging air traffic demand, rising middle class population and disposable incomes, demographic dividend, over 1,200 planes on order by various Indian carriers and improving aviation infrastructure -- are all fuelling the growth of the market. Out of the 470 firm aircraft order, 250 will be supplied by Airbus and 220 by Boeing, while there is also the option to buy another 370 planes from the two plane makers. The firm order includes 70 wide-body aircraft. Aircraft & Air Traffic Indian airlines have placed orders for more than 1,100 aircraft that are to be delivered in the coming years. The country's largest airline IndiGo is to take deliveries of around 500 planes, Go First is to receive 72 aircraft, .

Airlines must look at common services facility to cut costs: Suresh Prabhu

As Indian airlines seek to expand their fleet, former Union Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu has said the carriers should look at having a common services facility within the country for maintenance, repair and overhaul works as that will help reduce costs. With Air India placing orders for new aircraft after more than 17 years, he also said the airline should look at flying more on the profitable Gulf routes as well as restoring overseas "historical connections" which it used to operate earlier. Prabhu served as the Civil Aviation Minister from March 2018 to May 2019 and during his tenure also efforts were made to turnaround the loss-making Air India, which was finally taken over by the Tata Group in January 2022 under the government's disinvestment programme. "We should work on having international aviation hubs in India as well as look at having some sort of a common aviation services facility that can be shared by all airlines. Such a facility will help in reducing costs as

Air India Express flight from Dubai seeks airport assistance during landing

An Air India Express flight from Dubai to Thiruvananthapuram sought assistance from the airport here on Sunday after the pilot experienced some problem during landing, an airline source said. "The pilot felt something uneasy during landing and sought assistance from the ATC. It was a normal landing at the scheduled arrival time of 6.30 AM. No emergency was declared by the pilot," the source said. After the IX540 Air India Express flight was checked on landing, it was found that the top layer of a wheel of the nose gear of the aircraft had de-capped, he said. "There is nothing serious about that," he added. The plane was towed to the flight bay and all passengers deboarded safely, the source said.

How secret talks in London led to Air India's gigantic plane order

On Tuesday, Air India provisionally agreed to acquire almost 500 jets from Airbus and Boeing to take on domestic and international rivals

Uphold ethical standards or face disciplinary action: AI to cabin crew

Air India has told its cabin crew to uphold ethical standards or face disciplinary action if their actions negatively affect the airline's reputation

AI asks cabin crew not to indulge in conduct that impacts airline's image

Tata Group-owned Air India has asked its cabin crew to adhere to the standards of ethics and warned of disciplinary action in case their conduct directly impacts the airline's image, according to a source. In a communication to its cabin crew members on Monday, the airline's in-flight safety department has instructed them "not to indulge in any of the act which is against the TCOC (Tata Code of Conduct)". The communication was issued against the backdrop of a recent incident where a wide-body aircraft pilot allegedly was caught with two iPhone14 at the Delhi Airport and was subsequently asked to pay Rs 2.5 lakh towards (Customs) duty, the source in the know said. There was no immediate comment from Air India on the issue. "We are in receipt of feedback that some cabin crew are carrying items in commercial quantity on their return to India from a foreign country, which is against the customs regulation," the airline said in the communication. Noting that crew members are ambassador

Air India to add over 90 planes in two years in first order since 2006

This includes 56 planes that are part of mega aircraft order signed with Airbus and Boeing. These will be in addition to previously announced leases of 36 planes

IndiGo 'inadvertently' leaves behind 37 bags of flyers at Hyderabad airport

IndiGo on Thursday said it inadvertently left behind 37 bags of passengers who took a flight from Hyderabad to Vishakhapatnam. In a statement, the airline said it ensuring that all bags are delivered safely to the customers' addresses in Visakhapatnam and regretted the inconvenience caused to the passengers. "We confirm that 37 bags were inadvertently left behind for flight 6E 409 departing from Hyderabad to Vishakhapatnam," it said.

Air India's three domestic destinations to be operated by AirAsia India

Full service airline Air India on Tuesday said three of its domestic destinations will now be operated by the budget carrier AirAsia India as part of the route network rationalisation plan. AirAsia India, which currently operates 19 domestic destinations, became a fully owned subsidiary of Tata Group last November. The group has already announced its merger with Air India subsidiary Air India Express to create a low-cost airline. In the current phase, three stations -- Bhubaneswar, Bagdogra and Surat -- will now be served by AirAsia India, instead of Air India. At the same time, flight services on Delhi-Visakhapatnam and Mumbai-Lucknow routes will be operated exclusively by Air India, the airline said. In all cases, the flight frequency remains the same, it added Additionally, Air India will enhance connections from Delhi and/or Mumbai to Cochin, Trivandrum, Visakhapatnam and Nagpur to enable seamless, two-way domestic-international connectivity with long-haul international flight

Airlines faced 546 technical snags during aircraft operations in 2022: Govt

The government on Thursday said domestic airlines faced a total of 546 technical snags during operation of planes last year. Out of them, the country's largest airline IndiGo faced 215 snags while SpiceJet saw 143 snags and Vistara had 97 snags. Air India faced 64 snags while those reported by Go First and Akasa Air stood at 7 and 6, respectively, according to data provided by the civil aviation ministry in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. In 2022, Air Asia (India) witnessed 8 snags, Alliance Air reported 3 snags, Fly Big (1), TrueJet (1) and BlueDart Aviation (1). A total of 1,090 snags were faced by airlines in the last two years. Last year, the number of snags was slightly higher at 546 compared to 544 in 2021. To a query on whether more technical snags are reported in the country due to low cost airlines, Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh replied in the negative. "No Sir, Technical snags are experienced during operation of aircraft. These may be due to improper

Indian aviation industry suffers over Rs 24,000 cr loss in 2020-22

India's aviation industry suffered a loss of over Rs 24,000 crore in the last two financial years during 2020-22

Air India to use new program for real-time reporting of in-flight incidents

Air India on Monday said it will use UK-headquartered Ideagen's enterprise cloud software application Coruson to help enhance safety management and facilitate real-time reporting of in-flight incidents. The Tata group-owned airline's announcement also comes against the backdrop of at least three incidents of unruly passenger behaviour on two international flights last year, for which aviation regulator DGCA had imposed penalties on the carrier for certain reporting lapses. Coruson, the safety data software application, will be online with effect from May 1, 2023 and will facilitate real-time reporting of in-flight incidents, Air India said in a release. Air India said the application will weed out the requirement of paperwork to a large extent and ensure automated processes relay critical information to key personnel and authorities without delay. "This will also lead to timely action". The airline is also engaged in procuring iPads for pilots and crew members and when introduced,

Long-haul carrier Emirates test flies Boeing 777 on sustainable fuel

Long-haul carrier Emirates successfully flew a Boeing 777 on a test flight Monday with one engine entirely powered by so-called sustainable aviation fuel. This comes as carriers worldwide try to lessen their carbon footprint. Flight No. EK2646 flew for just under an hour over the coastline of the United Arab Emirates, after taking off from Dubai International Airport, the world's busiest for international travel, and heading out into the Persian Gulf before circling back to land. The fuel powered one of Boeing's two General Electric Co. engines, with the other running on conventional jet fuel for safety. This flight is a milestone moment for Emirates and a positive step for our industry as we work collectively to address one of our biggest challenges reducing our carbon footprint," Adel al-Redha, Emirates' chief operation officer, said in a statement. Emirates, a state-owned airline under Dubai's ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, described the sustainable fuel as a blen

Ahmedabad-bound Vistara flight diverted to Udaipur due to low visibility

An Ahmedabad-bound Vistara flight from Delhi was diverted to Rajasthan's Udaipur due to low visibility

IndiGo flyer booked for trying to remove cover of emergency exit mid-air

IndiGo lodged an FIR against the passenger for violating security norms

Air India urination case: Court adjourns accused's bail plea to Jan 30

A Delhi court on Friday adjourned Shankar Mishra's petition seeking bail to January 30. Mishra, who is accused of urinating on a woman co-passenger onboard a flight in November last year had filed a fresh bail application seeking regular bail. The court adjourned the matter after noting the investigating officer was not present. Further, the complainant's counsel was not provided a copy of the bail plea, it noted. The incident took place onboard the Air India flight from New York to Delhi on November 26, 2022. Mishra was allegedly in an inebriated condition.