Page 7 - Pilots

Alliance Air pilots on strike for second day, 70% served notices

Alliance Air flash strike continues on second day

Pilots' strike hits Alliance Air flight ops; airline issues notices

Around 70 flights of Alliance Air were affected on Tuesday as a section of pilots continued with their strike for the second consecutive day and the airline has issued show cause notices to the pilots, according to two sources. Around 70-80 pilots refrained from coming for duty to protest against non-restoration of salaries to the pre-COVID level and non-payment of allowances, among other issues, they added. State-owned Alliance Air, which was earlier part of the now-privatised Air India, has around 200 pilots and operates about 130 flights per day. One of the sources said at least 70 flights were affected due to the strike by the pilots on Tuesday. The source said the contracts of the pilots are in the process of being re-negotiated but a section of the pilots have gone on strike without serving any notice to the airline. The striking pilots have been served with show cause notices and have been asked to report for duty within 24 hours, the source added. The source also said tha

Alliance Air pilots on strike over pay, nearly half its flights cancelled

Airline says no notice served, so management has taken a serious view; pilots want salaries pruned during Covid to be restored to pre-pandemic levels

15% of pilots in India are women, 3 times more than global average: DGCA

The DGCA data also shows that there are nearly 10,000 pilots in the country including 67 foreign nationals

Air India revises privilege leaves policy from April 1: Official

Air India will revise its policy with respect to privilege leaves for both permanent and full-term contract staff from the next financial year to align the policy with "prevailing market conditions", according to an internal communication. From April 1 onwards, Privilege Leaves (PLs) accumulation limit for all employees will be 60 days in a particular financial year, the communication said on Wednesday. An official close to the development said that under the revised policy, an employee can accumulate up to 60 days of PLs at the end of a financial year or can encash the same number of PLs. Air India will also be putting in place a new leave policy for the staff. "We are reviewing our leave policy comprehensively to align it with the prevailing market practices. As a part of that process, Privilege Leave (PL) limit accumulation and encashment are being revised," Air India's Chief Human Resources Officer Suresh Dutt Tripathi said in the communication. As per the communication, there

Two pilots die after Army's Cheetah helicopter crashes in Arunachal Pradesh

A Cheetah helicopter of the Indian Army, with two pilots on board, crashed near Mandala in West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday morning, a defence spokesperson said. The chopper, carrying a lieutenant and a major, had taken off from Sange village in the district at 9 am and was headed for Missamari in Assam's Sonitpur district. The helicopter, which was flying an operational sortie, lost contact with Air Traffic Control (ATC) around 9.15 am, Lt Colonel Mahendra Rawat said. "It crashed near Mandala, west of Bomdila. Search parties have been sent to the spot," he said. Rohit Rajbir Singh, the superintendent of police, Special Investigation Cell (SIC), explained that villagers had found the crashed chopper ablaze in Dirang, and informed district officials. "Villagers from Bangjalep at Dirang located the chopper around 12.30 pm. It is still burning," Singh said. The area has no mobile connectivity and the weather is extremely foggy with visibility as low as five mete

No proposal to lease non-operational airstrips for pilot training: Govt

The civil aviation ministry on Monday said there is no proposal to lease non-operational air strips to pilot training institutions for the purpose of training pilots. There are 35 Flying Training Organisations (FTO) in the country operating from 53 bases that provide aircraft flying training to obtain Commercial Pilot License (CPL). These FTOs have been approved by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh said that in 2021, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) awarded nine FTO slots at five airports at Belagavi (Karnataka), Jalgaon (Maharashtra), Kalaburgi (Karnataka), Khajuraho (Madhya Pradesh) and Lilabari (Assam). These slots were awarded through a competitive bidding process. Last June, 6 FTO slots were awarded at five AAI airports -- two at Bhavnagar (Gujarat), and one each at Hubballi (Karnataka), Kadappa (Andhra Pradesh), Kishangarh (Rajasthan) and Salem (Tamil Nadu). To a que

AirAsia integrates pilot flight duty logbook with DGCA's eGCA platform

Pilots were traditionally required to update their pilot logbook in physical logbooks, as required by the MOCA's Aircraft Rule, 1937 (67A)

AI says 15% of total pilots are female, schedules all-women crew flights

Air India on Wednesday said 15 per cent of its 1,825 pilots are women pilots, making it an airline with the largest number of female pilots. To mark International Women's Day, the Tata Group-owned Air India, along with Air India Express and AirAsia India, has scheduled more than 90 all-women crew flights, and the carriers have been operating these all-women crew flights on international and domestic routes since March 1, according to a release. "Of the 90+ flights operated by all-women cockpit and cabin crew, Air India is flying 40 flights across domestic and international locations, whereas AI Express is operating 10 all-international flights to the Gulf route and AirAsia India is operating over 40 flights within India," it said. According to the carrier, women constitute over 40 per cent of Air India's workforce, with 275 of its 1,825 pilots being women, representing 15 per cent of the cockpit crew strength and making it an airline having one of the largest numbers of female ...

Air India plans single pay structure, common seniority list for pilots

Air India was unable to create a single seniority list of pilots after merging with Indian Airlines in 2007 as pilots from both sides bickered on the issue

Air India to hire 900 pilots, 4,200 trainee crew to support growth plans

At present Air India has 115 aircraft. This calendar year it will receive six Airbus A350s and 25 Boeing 737 Max planes; will also take 36 aircraft on lease

Aviation regulator DGCA recommends measures to boost mental health of crew

The regulator is of the view that the pressures and stressors at workplace and personal life cannot be addressed through these professional skills, procedures or knowledge

Air India will require more than 6,500 pilots for 470 planes, says report

Air India will require more than 6,500 pilots to operate 470 aircraft that are to be supplied by Airbus and Boeing in the coming years, according to industry sources. Seeking to expand fleet as well as operations, the airline has placed orders for acquiring a total of 840 aircraft that includes an option to buy 370 planes. This is one of the largest aircraft order by any airline. Currently, Air India has around 1,600 pilots to operate its 113 aircraft fleet and in recent times, there have been instances of ultra-long haul flights getting cancelled or delayed due to shortage of crew. The airline's two subsidiaries -- Air India Express and AirAsia India -- together have around 850 pilots for flying their 54 planes while the joint venture Vistara has more than 600 pilots. The latter has a fleet of 53 aircraft, one of the sources told PTI. Air India, Air India Express, Vistara and AirAsia India together have little over 3,000 pilots to operate the combined fleet of 220 aircraft. The .

IndiGo restores pilots' increments amid financial turnaround, Q3 profit

Airline made net profit of Rs 1,422 cr in Q3FY23, after three consecutive quarters of loss

Scindia's intervention sought to revoke suspension of pilot's licence

The Federation of Indian Pilots wrote to Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia seeking his intervention to revoke the suspension of licence of the pilot-in-command of the Air India flight

US accuses former army pilot of illegally training Chinese military pilots

The US has accused a former military pilot of illegally training Chinese military pilots, and is trying to extradite him from Australia. But the pilot's lawyer says his client has been unfairly singled out because of the current geopolitical struggle between the US and China. Pilot Daniel Duggan, 54, has been held in an Australian jail since his October arrest. Duggan's lawyer Dennis Miralis said outside a Sydney courtroom Tuesday that Duggan denies the allegations and will continue to fight the extradition process at every step. Australia's Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus last month approved the US extradition request. But before the extradition can proceed, a judge must first determine whether Duggan is eligible for extradition under Australian law. Miralis said the US Department of Defence had acknowledged there were other people helping foreign militaries but that the US and Australia had singled out Duggan for extradition. We are concerned that this does highlight the political

Drunk man not in senses, buck stops with pilot: Mishra's co-passenger

A drunk person may not be in his senses but the flight crew showed no compassion and failed in their responsibility, said a US-based doctor seated next to the man who urinated on a woman in an inebriated state on an Air India flight from New York to Delhi. In an interview to PTI, Dr Sugata Bhattacharjee narrated the sordid events in the business class cabin of Flight AI102 on November 26, which have become front page news after they came to light last week. Bhattacharjee, who is based in New Hampshire state, wrote an elaborate complaint to Air India immediately after the flight landed, detailing his experience with his co-passenger Shankar Mishra and his interactions with the cabin crew He told PTI he is speaking out now to elaborate on the complaint because of claims by Mishra's father that his son is innocent and may have been a victim of extortion. "It was a moral call for me, it was morality and I thought it was my moral obligation to stand and make a complaint and I did," he .

Senior execs, some pilots, cabin crew leave Jet Airways, says report

With continuing uncertainty over Jet Airways' future, at least two senior executives as well as some pilots and cabin crew have quit the airline, according to sources. Jalan Kalrock consortium emerged as the winning bidder for Jet Airways under the insolvency resolution process in June 2021 but the carrier is yet to start operations. The sources close to the development said the Vice Presidents of Engineering and Human Resources have left the airline. Some pilots and cabin crew have also left the airline. Besides, some senior-level executives have gone on Leave Without Pay (LWP), the sources said. Details about the current employee strength at the airline could not be immediately ascertained. A senior executive at the airline said the upside potential of a revived Jet Airways is tremendous for all stakeholders and customers. A Jet Airways spokesperson declined to comment. Earlier, the carrier had reduced salaries for various staff and send many employees on LWP amid uncertainty

Air India pilot refuses to fly dog; Here are the rules for flying pets

He said that the airline staff told him that the commander of the flight was not okay with the pet being on board and refused permission

Aviation regulator DGCA boosts its eGCA portal; adds new features

Aviation regulator DGCA has introduced new features on its e-governance platform for stakeholders, including the facility to fetch pilots' flying hours on a real-time basis that will also help in faster processing of licence applications. Besides, the Air Operator Certificate (AOC) database has been integrated with the civil aviation ministry's heli-sewa portal that will allow speedier processing of landing requests. According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), operators are now issued the certificate of airworthiness with respect to newly inducted aircraft at foreign delivery locations through the regulator's eGCA portal for ferrying the planes to India. The eGCA, a single window e-governance platform, has been enhanced to further improve the ease of doing business in the civil aviation ecosystem, a senior DGCA official said on Sunday. The pilot e-logbook in eGCA has been integrated with various operators' internal software through API (Application Programming ..