Page 8 - Aviation Sector

Centre taking steps to ban hoax bomb perpetrators from flying: Minister

Union Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu on Sunday said the Centre is mulling to take steps to ban perpetrators who resort to hoax bomb threats from flying. Speaking to mediapersons here after formally inaugurating two flights Visakhapatnam-Vijayawada, the minister also said besides taking support from international agencies, law enforcement wings and the Intelligence Bureau to prevent these fake threats, the union government is also mulling to amend two Civil Aviation Laws. "We are also taking the support of international agencies, law enforcement agencies, the Intelligence Bureau to prevent these. We are planning to bring changes to two civil aviation laws. Those who resort to these kinds of activities will be punished severely and imposed a penalty. We are also taking steps to ban such persons from flying. We will announce them in the coming days," he said. As of Saturday, in 13 days, more than 300 flights operated by the Indian carriers have received hoax bomb threats. Mos

Air India, SIA expand codeshare agreement; add 40 int'l, 11 Indian cities

Air India and Singapore Airlines (SIA) have agreed to expand their codeshare agreement, adding 11 Indian cities and another 40 international destinations to their network. This marks the first extensive expansion of codeshare arrangements between the airlines since 2010, offering customers enhanced travel options between Singapore and India, as well as beyond. A codeshare pact allows two airlines to offer their customers services on each other's flights. From October 27 this year, Air India and SIA will codeshare on each other's flights between Singapore and the Indian cities of Bengaluru and Chennai, increasing their total weekly scheduled codeshare services between the countries to 56 from 14. SIA will codeshare on Air India's domestic flights between Delhi and Amritsar, Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Lucknow, and Varanasi, between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Goa, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, and Thiruvananthapuram, as well as between Kolkata and Guwahati. Air In

All security protocols followed when flights receive bomb threats: Airlines

Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) is continuously in touch with the Ministry of Home Affairs on the situation of bomb threats to flights

Vistara's Delhi-London flight diverted to Frankfurt after bomb threat

A London-bound Vistara flight from Delhi was diverted to Frankfurt on Friday following a bomb threat. In a statement early Saturday morning, an airline spokesperson said the flight landed safely at the Frankfurt airport and mandatory checks are being conducted. The flight will continue to its destination once cleared by the security agencies. "Vistara flight UK17 operating from Delhi to London on October 18, 2024 received a security threat on social media. In line with the protocol, all relevant authorities were immediately informed and as a precautionary measure, the pilots decided to divert the flight to Frankfurt," the spokesperson said. According to an official in the know, the flight had received a bomb threat. Meanwhile, Akasa Air said its flight QP 1366 scheduled to fly from Bengaluru to Mumbai on Friday received a security alert shortly before departure. "Hence as per safety and security procedures, all passengers had to be deplaned as the local authorities followed necess

Vistara in-flight experience will continue post-merger: Air India

Air India on Friday said Vistara routes and schedule as well as the in-flight experience will continue and the flights operated with Vistara planes will have the code 'AI2' post-merger. The merger of the two full service carriers is scheduled to be completed on November 12, following which Singapore Airlines will have a 25.1 per cent stake in Air India. Vistara is a joint venture between Tata Group and Singapore Airlines. Post the merger, the vintage 'Maharaja' will be retained through the frequent flyer programme of the integrated entity. "The existing members of Club Vistara will be seamlessly transferred to Air India's Flying Returns program. With this merger, Flying Returns will also evolve into an all-new avatar 'Maharaja Club'," Air India said in the statement. Reiterating that the experience offered by Vistara will continue for customers post-merger, Air India said Vistara will be identified by a special four-digit Air India code beginning with the digit '2'. "For instance

India needs over $170 bn to fund aviation expansion: S&P Global Ratings

India is one of the world's fastest-growing aviation markets and domestic passenger traffic is expected to double to 300 million by 2030

Boeing prepares layoff notices for thousands of workers as turmoil deepens

While Su has previously spoken with Boeing and the striking West Coast factory workers' union, it is her first time in Seattle meeting both sides in person

Boeing fine-tunes job reductions as major buyer slams 777X jet delay

The planemaker plans a series of internal meetings this week to lay out the jobs plan

Boeing to lay off 10% employees as workers' strike cripples production

Boeing plans to lay off about 10% of its workers in the coming months as it continues to lose money and tries to deal with a strike that is crippling production of the company's best-selling airline planes. New CEO Kelly Ortberg told staff in a memo Friday that the job cuts will include executives, managers and employees. The company had already imposed rolling temporary furloughs, but Ortberg said those will be suspended because of the impending layoffs. The company will delay the rollout of a new plane, the 777X, to 2026 instead of 2025. It will also stop building the cargo version of its 767 jet in 2027 after finishing current orders. Boeing has lost more than $25 billion since the start of 2019. Union machinists have been on strike since Sept. 14. Two days of talks this week failed to produce a deal.

Boeing files unfair labour practice charge with NLRB against striking union

In a filing with NLRB, Boeing also accused the union's leaders of misrepresenting the terms of Boeing's offer to its members and of not bringing negotiators to the table with authority to make a deal

Relatives of passengers who died in Boeing crashes to face firm in court

Relatives of some of the 346 people who died in two crashes involving Boeing 737 Max planes are expected in court on Friday, where their lawyers will ask a federal judge to throw out a plea agreement that the aircraft manufacturer struck with federal prosecutors. The family members want the government to put Boeing on trial, where the company could face tougher punishment. In July, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to a single felony count of conspiracy to commit fraud in connection with winning regulatory approval of the Max. The settlement between Boeing and the Justice Department calls for Boeing - a big government contractor - to pay a fine and be placed on probation. Passengers' relatives call it a sweetheart deal that fails to consider the lives lost. The families who lost loved ones in the 737 Max crashes deserve far more than the inadequate, superficial deal struck between Boeing and the Department of Justice," said Erin Applebaum, a lawyer whose firm represents some of the ...

From setbacks to success: Ratan Tata's legacy in aviation industry

With its combined airlines, the Tata Group is now the second-largest player in the Indian market, commanding nearly 30 per cent of the domestic market share

Boeing workers in for 'long haul' after pay talks collapse: Union leader

Reaching an accepted deal is critical for Boeing, ratings agency S&P estimates the strike is costing it $1 billion a month and it is at risk of losing its prized investment grade credit rating

Lufthansa aims to revive 'problem child' airline by 2026: CEO Carsten Spohr

Lufthansa has struggled with competition on its transatlantic and Asian routes, recently cancelling its Frankfurt to Beijing flights as Chinese carriers increased capacity

Air India derosters 3 cabin members for lapses in opening aircraft door

Air India has derostered three cabin crew members for an erroneous approach in opening the door of a Boeing 777 aircraft that led to the auto-deployment of the emergency slides, according to sources. The incident happened with the Boeing 777 plane at the Bangalore airport after it landed from San Francisco on September 15, they said. When contacted, an Air India spokesperson said a technical issue was reported with one of the doors not opening appropriately upon landing and the matter was attended to promptly. "In a serious safety violation, the door of Air India's Boeing 777 aircraft that operated the flight AI 176 from San Francisco to Bangalore on September 15, was opened in armed mode when the aircraft arrived at the Bangalore airport. "As a result of this, the emergency slides automatically got deployed," a sources told PTI. Another source said three cabin crew members have been derostered for the lapse and an internal probe has been ordered. However, Air India did not comme

Indian carriers soar on international routes but foreign rivals lead

On the popular India-Singapore route, Singapore Airlines and its subsidiary Scoot remain dominant despite competition from IndiGo, Air India (A-I), A-I Express, and Vistara

SpiceJet gets good response for Rs 3k cr worth share sale, oversubscribed

SpiceJet, which has statutory dues of more than Rs 601 crore, has received a good response for its Rs 3,000 crore-worth sale of shares to qualified institutional buyers. Operating with a reduced fleet as well as facing financial and legal headwinds, the carrier is looking to raise funds. Sources in the know on Wednesday said the qualified institutional placement has been oversubscribed, with participation from various investors, including family offices and institutional funds. Some of the investors include family offices of Madhu Kela, Akash Bhanshali, Sanjay Dangi, Rohit Kothari, and Bandhan Bank, the sources said. There was no official comment from the airline. "Due to our financial constraints, our company has not been able to fulfil the statutory liabilities accruing on us on a month to month basis," the airline said in the preliminary placement document related to raising Rs 3,000 crore. As per the document, the airline has not made provident fund payments to the tune of ov

Not paid GST, TDS, and PF dues of Rs 427 crore since 2020: SpiceJet

Legal experts told Business Standard that evasion of GST is a serious offence since it is a tax already collected from the customer but not paid

Delhi, Mumbai airports emerge as key international hubs for LCCs

At both Indian airports, IndiGo reigns supreme. In Delhi, it accounts for 31 per cent of the 21,781 international connections, covering over 156 destinations

Boeing, union negotiators to resume talks as striking workers dig in

The top negotiators at Boeing and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) will meet with federal mediators in Seattle on Tuesday for preliminary talks, as per reports