News Analysis India

Tag: Air India

  • Air travel becomes costlier, caps raised on domestic airfares by 9.83-12.82 per cent

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Domestic air travel is set to become costlier as the Civil Aviation Ministry has raised the lower as well as upper caps on fares by 9.83 to 12.82 percent, according to an official order.

    India had imposed lower and upper limits on airfares based on flight duration when services were resumed on May 25, 2020, after a two-month lockdown due to coronavirus.

    The lower caps were imposed to help the airlines that have been struggling financially due to coronavirus-related travel restrictions.

    The upper caps were imposed so that passengers are not charged huge amounts when the demand for seats is high.

    In an order dated August 12, 2021, the ministry increased the lower limit for flights under 40 minutes of duration from Rs 2,600 to Rs 2,900 — an increase of 11.53 percent.

    The upper cap for flights under 40 minutes of duration was increased by 12.82 percent to Rs 8,800.

    Similarly, flights with duration between 40-60 minutes have a lower limit of Rs 3,700 instead of Rs 3,300 now, the order said.

    The upper cap on these flights was increased by 12.24 percent to Rs 11,000 on Thursday.

    The flights with duration between 60-90 minutes have a lower limit of Rs 4,500 — an increase of 12.5 percent.

    The upper cap on these flights was increased by 12.82 percent to Rs 13,200 on Thursday.

    Now, domestic flights of duration between 90-120, 120-150, 150-180 and 180-210 minutes have lower caps of Rs Rs 5,300, Rs 6,700, Rs 8,300 and Rs 9,800, respectively, as per the ministry’s order.

    Till date, domestic flights of duration between 90-120, 120-150, 150-180 and 180-210 minutes had the lower limits of Rs 4,700, Rs 6,100, Rs 7,400 and Rs 8,700, respectively.

    The lower cap on flights between 120-150 minutes duration was increased by 9.83 percent to Rs 6,700, as per the new order.

    On Thursday, the upper caps on domestic flights of duration between 90-120, 120-150, 150-180 and 180-210 minutes were increased by 12.3 percent, 12.42 percent, 12.74 percent and 12.39 percent, respectively, as per the order.

    The caps mentioned by the government in its order does not include the passenger security fee, user development fee for the airports and the GST.

    These charges are added on top when the ticket is being booked by the passenger.

    The ministry’s order on Thursday stated that the government has taken this decision of increasing the lower limits as well as the upper limits keeping in mind the “prevailing situation of COVID-19” in the country.

  • Air India has no plans to phase out B747 aircraft: Civil aviation ministry

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Air India has no plans to phase out its B747 aircraft which have an average age of about 26 years, Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh said Wednesday.

    In July last year, British Airways had announced that it will phase out its entire fleet of 31 B747 aircraft due to downturn in travel amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

    “As on date, there are four B747-400 aircraft in Air India fleet and their average age is about 26 years,” Singh stated in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha.

    Currently, three of the four B747 aircraft are under maintenance checks, he mentioned.

    “At present, Air India has no plan to phase out the operation of Boeing 747 from the fleet,” he stated.

  • Five senior pilots of Air India die of COVID-19 in May

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Five senior pilots of Air India have died in May due to COVID-19, senior officials said on Thursday, adding that the carrier has started vaccinating its employees from May 15 onwards after a delay due to non-availability of vaccines.

    These five senior pilots were Captain Harsh Tiwary, Captain G P S Gill, Captain Prasad Karmakar, Captain Sandeep Rana and Captain Amitesh Prasad, they said.

    Meanwhile, private carriers such as Vistara and AirAsia India have given at least the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine to around 99 per cent and 96 per cent of their eligible employees respectively as of now.

    People who are being treated for COVID-19 or have recently recovered from COVID-19 are not considered eligible for vaccination.

    Air India had on May 4 said it would vaccinate all its employees against COVID-19 by the month-end as a pilots’ body had demanded inoculation of the flying crew on priority basis citing risk to their lives from the deadly infection.

    Six days later, the carrier had to tell its employees that it would not be able to hold COVID-19 vaccination camps for them at the Delhi airport on May 11 and May 13 due to “non-availability” of vaccines.

    In a communication to employees on May 10, Air India said: “The proposed COVID vaccination camp at GSD Complex, Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) on May 11 and May 13 stands cancelled because government authorities have expressed inability to hold these camps due to non-availability of vaccines.

    ” “Fresh dates will be notified once we get re-confirmation from government authorities,” it added.

    The national carrier’s vaccination camps for employees started with delay from May 15 onwards due to non-availability of vaccines, Air India officials said on Thursday.

    It is not clear by when Air India would be able to complete the first dose of vaccination of all its employees.

    The national carrier did not respond to the queries sent by the PTI on this matter on Thursday.

    IndiGo has given first dose to around 20,000 employees out of total 35,000 eligible employees that work for the carrier and its ground handling subsidiary Agile.

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  • Delhi High Court quashes Air India’s decision terminating pilots, orders reinstatement

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Coming to the aid of all Air India pilots whose services were terminated, including the contractual ones, the Delhi High Court quashed the national carrier’s decision of last year and directed their reinstatement.

    The direction was issued by Justice Jyoti Singh who also ordered that back wages would have to be paid to the reinstated pilots.

    The court also said that extension of contract, in the future, of the contractual pilots would be at the discretion of Air India in view of their satisfactory performance.

    The court said the detailed judgement would be available only on Wednesday. The order was passed in over 40 petitions by pilots whose services were terminated by Air India on August 13 last year.

  • 57.25 lakh domestic air passengers in April, 26.8 per cent lower than March: DGCA

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Around 57.25 lakh domestic passengers travelled by air in April, which is 26.8 per cent lower than 78.22 lakh who travelled in March, Indian aviation regulator DGCA said on Tuesday.

    According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), 78.27 lakh people travelled by air within the country in February.

    The drop in domestic air traffic in April is due to the second wave of the pandemic that has badly hit India and its aviation sector.

    While IndiGo carried 30.83 lakh passengers in April, a 53.9 per cent share of the total domestic market, SpiceJet flew 7.05 lakh passengers, which is 12.3 per cent share of the market, according to data shared by the DGCA.

    Air India, GoAir, Vistara and AirAsia India carried 6.85 lakh, 5.47 lakh, 3.11 lakh and 3.55 lakh passengers, respectively in April, it showed.

    The occupancy rate or load factor of the six major Indian airlines was between 52 per cent and 70.8 per cent in April, it stated.

    “The passenger load factor in the month of April 2021 has shown decreasing trend compared to previous month due to end of vacation period,” the DGCA said.

    The occupancy rate at SpiceJet was 70.8 per cent in April, the regulator noted.

    The occupancy rates for IndiGo, Vistara, GoAir, Air India and AirAsia India were 58.7 per cent, 54.6 per cent, 65.7 per cent, 52 per cent and 64 per cent, respectively, according to the DGCA.

    India resumed domestic passenger flights on May 25 last year after a gap of two months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

    Indian airlines are allowed to operate a maximum of 80 per cent of their pre-pandemic domestic flights.

    The DGCA data mentioned that in April, GoAir had the best on-time performance of 98.1 per cent at four metro airports — Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai.

    IndiGo and Vistara were at number two and three positions at these four airports in April with 97.4 per cent and 95.3 per cent on-time performance, respectively, the regulator said.

    The aviation sector has been significantly impacted due to the travel restrictions imposed in India and other countries in view of the coronavirus pandemic.

    All airlines in India have taken cost-cutting measures such as pay cuts, leaves without pay and layoffs in order to tide over the crisis.

  • Air India airlifts 35 tonnes of zeolite used in oxygen production plants from Rome to Bengaluru

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Air India said it was airlifting 35 tonnes of zeolite mineral used in oxygen production plants on two flights from Rome to Bengaluru on Saturday.

    India has been badly hit by the second wave of the novel coronavirus infection as hospitals in several states are reeling under the shortage of health workers, vaccines, oxygen and drugs.

    “The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is the charterer for the zeolite consignments,” Air India said in a statement.

    Additionally, the national carrier is going to airlift zeolite mineral for DRDO from multiple locations across the world during the coming weeks.

    “Seven charter flights have been scheduled between May 15-18 from Rome to Bangalore. This will be followed by eight charter flights from Korea to Bangalore between May 19-22.

    “Further, we have uplift from USA through our existing scheduled flights from EWR (Newark Liberty International Airport) between May 20-25. Next part of this exercise is from Brussels, Tokyo and again USA, in the following weeks,” the statement stated.

    Zeolite is used in oxygen production plants that are based on pressure swing adsorption (PSA) technology.

    India in a day recorded 3,26,098 COVID-19 cases that took the tally to 2,43,72,907, while 3,890 new fatalities pushed the death toll to 2,66,207, according to Union health ministry data updated on Saturday.

    The active cases have reduced to 36,73,802 and comprise 15.07 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 83.83 per cent, it stated.

  • Air India cancels COVID vaccination camp for two days due to ‘non-availability’ of vaccines

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Air India on Monday told its employees that it will not be able to hold COVID-19 vaccination camps for them at the Delhi airport on Tuesday and Thursday due to “non-availability” of vaccines.

    The airline had last Tuesday said it would vaccinate all its employees against COVID-19 by the end of this month as a pilots’ body demanded inoculation of the flying crew on priority basis citing risk to their lives from the deadly infection.

    In a communication to employees on Monday, Air India said: “The proposed COVID vaccination camp at GSD Complex, Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) on May 11 and May 13 stands cancelled because government authorities have expressed inability to hold these camps due to non-availability of vaccines.”

    “Fresh dates will be notified once we get re-confirmation from government authorities,” it added.

    India has been badly hit by the second wave of the coronavirus infection as hospitals in several states are reeling under shortage of vaccines, oxygen, drugs, equipment and beds.

    After recording over four lakh fresh cases for four consecutive days, India witnessed a single-day rise of 3,66,161 COVID-19 cases on Monday, which pushed its tally to 2,26,62,575, according to the health ministry.

    The death toll due to the viral disease climbed to 2,46,116 with 3,754 more people succumbing to it, the ministry’s data updated at 8 am showed.

  • Will vaccinate all employees by month-end, says Air India as pilots body threatens stir

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: Air India will complete the first dose of COVID vaccination of all its employees by end of this month, said the national carrier’s spokesperson on Tuesday.

    “Air India extends full support to the efforts of the government to fight the pandemic and ensure the safety of all its employees. In the last few days, Air India has lost valued employees in the second wave of the coronavirus. Air India has already held vaccination camps in office premises for vaccination of 45 years and above employees,” read the airline’s statement.

    “24-hour telemedicine, care-at-home robust dedicated helpline having a strong team of more than 100 employees manning it is in place to cater to COVID-related medical requirements of employees. Discussions were already on for the vaccination of all AI employees, including the crew. As the guidelines did not allow vaccination of persons below 45 years of age, AI could not complete the vaccination,” it said.

    Air India’s move comes after Captain T Praveen Keerthi, General Secretary of the pilots’ union of Air India, Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) on Tuesday raised an issue with Air India Director Captain R S Sandhu about their guidelines of COVID-19 vaccination drive across India which excludes pilots.

    “Since from May 1, 2021, all persons 18 years and above can be vaccinated, a schedule for vaccination is now being drawn up and it is expected to commence as early as next week and all employees will be vaccinated by end of this month that is May 2021. This will give a boost to our confidence of working for the nation with full zeal and commitment,” it adds.

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    In a letter to the Air India Director, Keerthi had threatened to “stop work” if the management fails to set up vaccination camps pan India for the flying crew above the age of 18 years.

    Keerthi in his letter claimed that the management left their flying crew “vulnerable”.

    He said, “We feel let down by the self-serving approach of the management, which sees no injustice in organising vaccine camps at few bases but excludes pilots. The employees who are doing desk jobs and the majority opting to work from home are allowed to get vaccinated, leaving the flying crew vulnerable.”

    “If Air India fails to set up vaccination camps on a Pan India basis for the flying crew above the age of 18 years on priority, we will STOP WORK,” he added.

  • COVID crisis: Oxygen tankers from Thailand arrive in India; Air India steps up effort

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: A consignment of containers for transportation of medical oxygen arrived in India from Thailand while some more empty tankers will be airlifted from Singapore and Dubai on Tuesday, the Union home ministry said.

    The containers from Thailand were the third such consignment to be flown to the country in the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) transport aircraft by the home ministry amid a surge in COVID-19 cases and a subsequent increase in demand for medical oxygen.

    “Some glimpses of airlift of oxygen containers from Bangkok by IAF last night. The airlift is being coordinated by MHA. It will enhance oxygen availability amid current COVID-19 surge,” a home ministry spokesperson said in a tweet, sharing pictures of the oxygen containers being loaded into an IAF aircraft.

    In another tweet, the home ministry said, “IAF C17 transport aircraft gearing up to airlift more empty oxygen containers from Singapore today. These containers will further boost oxygen availability in the country in view of the current COVID-19 surge. The airlift is being coordinated by MHA.”

    Later, the spokesperson said the airlift operations of empty containers continues and one more IAF transport aircraft reached Dubai on Tuesday to bring another lot of oxygen containers.

    “The MHA is coordinating the airlift, which will upscale oxygen availability in the country during the current COVID-19 surge,” the spokesperson said.

    The first consignment of empty oxygen containers was airlifted from Singapore on Saturday.

    Another batch of containers was brought from Dubai on Monday.

    All three aircraft carrying the containers landed in West Bengal.

    From there, they were taken to oxygen generating sites to be filled up and for onward transportation to the high-demand areas, mostly through special trains.

    India is struggling with the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic and hospitals in several states are reeling under a shortage of medical oxygen and beds as the number of cases rises.

    The country’s COVID-19 caseload mounted to 1,76,36,307 on Tuesday with 3,23,144 more people testing positive for the viral disease.

    The death toll climbed to 1,97,894 as 2,771 more fatalities were recorded, according to Union health ministry.

    Since April 23, the home ministry has been coordinating efforts to deploy empty oxygen tankers and containers at various filling stations across the country to speed up the distribution of life-saving oxygen.

    The central government is trying to source oxygen from different parts of the country and making it available to the worst-hit states by running special trains.

    Meanwhile, Air India is going to airlift 10,636 oxygen concentrators from several countries in the next seven days, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Tuesday.

    “Air India is airlifting 10,636 oxygen concentrators manufactured by Philips. 636 (concentrators) already flown in from US. Consignments flying in every day. Will be completed within this week,” Puri said on Twitter.

    India is struggling with a second wave of the coronavirus infection and hospitals in several states are reeling under a shortage of medical oxygen and beds.

  • Pilots association in HC seeks suspension of breath analyser test during COVID-19

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: An association representing pilots of Air India on Monday urged the Delhi High Court to direct civil aviation regulator DGCA to suspend breath analyser tests due to the surge in the COVID-19 pandemic.

    When the matter came up for hearing before Justice Prathiba M Singh, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) informed the court that there was a medical board recommendation of June last year permitting breath analyser tests (BAT).

    The Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), however, told the court that the medical board recommendation was given in respect of BAT of air traffic controllers (ATCs).

    The court asked DGCA to place before it the medical board’s recommendation and listed the matter for hearing on April 27.

    ICPA has sought suspension of BATs during the ongoing pandemic which has seen a surge in infections.

    In March last year, the high court issued an interim order suspending BATs through the tube process for ATCs.

    Subsequently, in September 2020 it had modified the interim order and allowed BATs through the tube process on the basis of the recommendations by the medical board.

    The board has recommended that one machine would be used per person and not again for the next 12 hours.

    The court, while allowing the BATs, had said that DGCA would be bound by the June 16, 2020 recommendations of the medical board.

    The interim order of March 23, 2020 was modified on an application moved by DGCA.

    The DGCA’s application was filed in the petition filed by the Air Traffic Controllers’ Guild (India) seeking a direction to DGCA and the Airport Authority of India (AAI) to temporarily suspend the BAT through the tube process to prevent further spread of the virus.