<b>Air India wants Rs 14,000 cr bailout</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->New Delhi The Rs 15,000 crore Maharaja has sought a bailout package of Rs 14,000 crore from the government as Air India is likely to post a loss of around Rs 5,000 crore in 2008-09. The bailout amount has bloated by 250 per cent from what Air India demanded last year.
In a revised bailout proposal, the national carrier has asked for an equity infusion of around Rs 5,000 crore and a soft loan of Rs 7,000 crore. In addition, it has also demanded Rs 2,000 crore as grant from the government.
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They should announce junk sale of Air India. Complete junk Airlines run by Babus.
<b>Delhi, Mumbai airports on IATA 'wall of shame'</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Giovanni Bisignani, CEO of International Air Transport Association, on Monday put Delhi and Mumbai Airport on the 'IATA wall of shame' for their steep hikes in fees which, he said, added to the jeopardy of the aviation industry.
Bisignani was speaking at the 65th IATA Annual General Meeting and World Air Transport Summit held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Air India's CMD, Arvind Jhadav and Jet Airways CEO Naresh Goyal were also present at the meeting.
<b>About 11 per cent of airline companies' revenues go to monopoly suppliers. Airlines pay over $54 billion to airports and air navigation service providers.
According to IATA figures, the bill that airlines have paid to monopoly suppliers grew by $1.5 billion last year. In the first six months of 2009, as the crisis in the industry worsened, it grew by another $1.5 billion.</b>
<b>Bisignani said Delhi and Mumbai airports had a special place on the 'IATA wall of shame.' He said Delhi and Mumbai airports were one of the worst contributors to the crisis, for their 207 per cent hike in charges.</b>
"There is no room for this nonsense in our future. When demand drops, suppliers cannot divide the same costs among fewer customers. The shape of everything must change," he declared.
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<b>Air India to defer salary payment by 15 days</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->New Delhi For the first time since the losses hit the national carrier Air India, the payment of salaries for the current month of about 30,000 employees will be delayed by a fortnight.
Confirming this, an Air India spokesperson said, "The salaries of June will be paid on July 15 due to the resource crunch that the company is facing."
Air India's losses for the last financial year are estimated at around Rs 4,000 crore, up from Rs 2,226 crore in the previous fiscal.
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Where is Indian Government ? Print more money. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Air India asks senior mgmt, official to forego July salary</b>
pioneer.com
PTI | New Delhi
Air India on Friday requested its top management and senior officials to voluntarily forego their salary and productivity-linked incentives for July to help the cash-strapped and crisis-ridden airline.
Air India<b> CMD Arvind Jadhav </b>requested all executives in the level of general managers and above to voluntarily forego salaries and incentives for July as a gesture to ease the liquidity crunch faced by the airline, an Air India spokesperson told PTI.
The airline is facing a possible industrial unrest with employees threatening agitation in case their June salary is not given by this month-end.
Jadhav's request is applicable to all senior employees of Air India, its subsidiaries and those on deputation and on contract.
Jadhav in a communique addressed to corporate directors, heads of strategic business units, executive directors and general manages on Friday voiced concern over the financial situation of the company.
He asked the top management to indicate to all employees of the organisation that every single paisa that can saved needs to be saved.
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Hahaha
Sell Air India. Junk airlines and CMD should resign.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>AI employees stage nationwide sit-in to protest delayed pay</b>
pioneer.com
PTI | New Delhi
Thousands Air India employees, continuing with their agitation, staged a sit-in today at their respective stations across the nation to protest against the airline management's decision to defer payment of their salaries by a fortnight.
"Protesting against Air India management's decision, employees associated with the three unions today staged sit-in at their respective stations across the nation," J B Kadian, general secretary of Air Corporation Employee's Union (ACEU) told PTI.
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>AI to overhaul brass in 30 days; to induct 7 independent directors</b>
pioneer.com
PTI | New Delhi
Cracking the whip to turn around ailing Air India, the government today announced an overhaul of its top management within 30 days and induction of seven independent directors with proven track record on the airline's board.
<b>It will also appoint a Chief Operating Officer (COO) to help CMD Arvind Jadhav beef up its day-to-day flight operations.</b>
Bringing relief to about 30,000 employees, the airline announced that its contractual staff would be given salaries by July 10 while others would get it by July 14.
Facing criticism after the airline's losses mounted to Rs 5,000 crore in 2008-09, the Civil Aviation Ministry decided to revamp the decision making bodies and disinvest a part of Air India's public stake in the near future.
"You will see in the next 30 days a major change in the top management in Air India. You are going to see a major change in the board. Some heads are going to roll.
"We are going to bring high quality people of great integrity and people with a proven track record in business," Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said here.
The names doing rounds for inclusion in the <b>AI Board include National Knowledge Commission Chairman Sam Pitroda, Infosys Mentor and Chairman N R Narayan Murthy and TCS CMD S Ramadorai. Official sources said seven independent </b>directors, who are to be inducted, would be of international repute.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
They should have fired nonperforming reserved quota CMD Jadav, now they are appointing COO and 7 new director.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> <b>Notice to Continental for Kalam frisking; unavoidable, says airline</b>
pioneer.com
IANS | New Delhi
Holding that the frisking of former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was "absolutely unpardonable", the government Tuesday ordered an inquiry and issued notice to Continental Airlines for its "wilful violation" of Indian laws. The US carrier justified the move saying it was in accordance with procedure.
Continental Airlines said frisking was the procedure mandatory for all carriers flying to the US and said there was no exemption to this rule.
"As all carriers flying to the US, Continental Airlines must follow the requirements and procedures of the US Department of Homeland Security. This procedure is followed by all carriers flying to the US from most of the countries in the world and there is no exemption to this rule," the airlines said in a statement.
Laurent Recoura, senior country director (India), Continental Airlines, said: "We believe that Dr. Kalam was not offended and we would like to thank him again for flying with us."
But the Indian government reacted sharply and ordered an inquiry into the incident. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Why they are making this as an issue? In US they do random frisk including former President and VP, Congress and Senators do get frisked on regular basis.
Why to discriminate ? Why politicians look for entitlement?
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->But the Indian government reacted sharply and ordered an inquiry into the incident. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This UPA Govt ejected Kalam from President's office to plant an unqualified head nodder with dubious past. So, why are they now making it an issue if Kalam himself has not made one?
Aviation babus looking to put a squeeze on Continental for few more baksheesh $?
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>AI sold 21 aircraft for USD 451 million: Patel</b>
pioneer.com
PTI | New Delhi
Air India sold 21 aircraft for USD 451.88 million during 2007 to 2009, Union civil aviation minister Praful Patel said onTuesday.
"17 aircraft were sold on 'sale and lease back' basis whereas, four aircraft were sold on 'as is where is' basis," Patel said in a written reply to a Rajya Sabha query.
He said that the <b>national carrier has leased 46 different types of aircraft from various companies across the globe and was paying a monthly rent of USD 18.945 million.</b>
Air India's leased aircraft fleet includes different types of Boeing and Airbus airplanes.
"The average monthly expenditure of Air India before depreciation and obsolescence is approximately Rs 1,500 crores," the minister said replying to another question.
Patel said that Air India was taking various steps such as rationalising of routes, return of leased aircraft, reduction of contractual employment and employees at foreign offices and establishing international advisory boards to cut down its overhead costs.
In reply to another query, he said that 304 bird hit cases were reported during 2008.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>All private airlines threaten not to fly from August 18</b>
How a Private Airlines can be competitive when Govt Airlines gets bail out for failure and Private Airlines had to cut profits to compete with Govt Airlines loaded with Indian Tax money.
Govt should liquidate Junk Indian Airlines and put tax money on better use.
<b>Air India pilots, crew slug it out at 30,000 ft</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->NEW DELHI: The Maharaja witnessed his first in-flight Mughal-e-Azam at 30,000 feet above sea level on Saturday, as two members of the cabin crewâ<b>one male and one femaleâslugged it out with the pilot and co-pilot. </b>
<b>Endangering the lives of 106 passengers and grossly violating safety norms</b>, the airline staffers came to blows in the cockpit and galley of the Indian Airlines Airbus A-320 as the aircraft cruised over Pakistan en route to Delhi via Lucknow from Sharjah.
The cabin-vs-cockpit tiff originated on the ground in Sharjah itself and then turned into a full-blown fight once IC 884 took off soon after midnight.
The cabin crew alleged that pilots harassed a 24-year-old female colleague who later filed a molestation complaint against them with the cops after the flight landed in Delhi.
<b>The pilots, on the other hand, accused a male flight purser of misconduct that seriously compromised flight safety, and said the accusation of molestation aimed to protect the complainant's purser friendâwho has a commercial pilot licence (CPL)âfrom facing action. </b>
No party denied that blows and abuses were exchanged as bewildered passengers looked on. Sources said that the female cabin crew member and the co-pilot sustained bruises.
Confirming the in-flight fight, Air India said it had ordered an inquiry and had grounded the staff members involved. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has also ordered a probe.
<b>There were unconfirmed reports that at one stage the cockpit was unmanned, as the crew was busy fighting outside. Things allegedly degenerated to the point where the captain threatened to divert the plane to Karachi, likening the situation, sources said, to a "hijack".</b>
In Sharjah, the cabin crew went to meet Captain Ranbir Arora and co-pilot Aditya Chopra for the pre-flight briefing. Both sides give different versions of what happened after this.
The cabin crew lobby said that after the initial tension on the ground in Sharjah, when the woman crew member went into the cockpit, one of the pilots held her hand and then pushed her out of the cockpit.
"She hit the cockpit door with such force that she started bleeding. When Amit Khanna, the purser, saw her in this condition, he went to the cockpit to ask what was happening. At this point, the pilots got abusive and started a fight with him," said a representative of the IA cabin crew, who added that the actual fight took place on the Lucknow-Delhi segment.
<b>Pilot sources claimed that despite his CPL, Khanna could not get a pilot's job due to the downturn. </b>
"The airhostess had announced flying time from Sharjah to Lucknow as per the schedule, and not the actual one that the commander gives. After taking off, the pilot scolded the airhostess and then called Amit to the cockpit," said a source.
<b>Khanna, the source added, entered the cockpit angrily and that's when the fight started. "He became abusive, and tempers ran high in the cockpit. Given the highly unsafe situation there, the commander said he would divert to Karachi, to which Amit retorted, 'Jahan le jaana hai, le jaao, is aircraft ko main bhi uda loonga (take it wherever you want to, I can also fly)'</b>," a pilot representative said, adding that the fight occurred over Pakistan, while the plan was flying from Sharjah to Lucknow. The woman crew member, the source explained, got bruised when she entered the cockpit in the melee.
The cockpit was cleared, with pilots pushing out Amit and then locking the door. After that, the plane landed in Lucknow at around 4.30 am.<b> "Amit then apologized to the pilots, and they took off for Delhi so that the flight wasn't delayed. He later got the woman crew member to level charges of molestation to avoid action for making a hostile entry into the cockpit,"</b> said a source speaking on behalf of the pilots.
The police are investigating the woman's complaint and have registered a case against the pilot and co-pilot. "There are several eyewitnesses and we are recording their statements," said joint CP (operations) Satyendra Garg. The police had the victim examined at Safdarjung Hospital, where her bruises were confirmed. A case was registered, among others, under Section 354 for outraging the modesty of a woman.
The DGCA is fuming at the gross violation of safety norms on IC 884. "The airline didn't even inform us of this incident in time. We're going to summon the crew members on Monday. This incident is shocking and we may need to take exemplary action," said a senior official. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Check, how world is reacting on net. This is a big story all over and shamefully response from AI <!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Welcome to flying 3rd World Airlines! All that cutsie PC talk about "Our global village" is just so much PC BS when you find your life in the hands of morons who still believe in witchcraft!
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If the hostess had dated any of these men she should be fired. This is the reason why you don't date co-worker. Oh don't get me wrong more than one needs to be fired. If the hostess had not dated any of these men than that would be true sexual harassment.
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The entire World is in trouble when you can't rely on our transits systems all of the World to be safe from violence?
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Absolutely insane! Was there no one else to handle this situation? What if the pilots became incompasitated? Who would fly the passengers to safety? What if this was a scheme to take over the plane? The lack of intelligence and common sense among humans today is incredible.
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what a scary story!! I guess Air India's slogan insn't "Fly The Friendly Skies ... "!! I like Southwest. The crew and pilots tell jokes and sing - they don't brawl in the aisles!
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How the hell were they going to divert the jet to Pakistan if they are fighting in the passenger area of the plane? The two need to be arrested and their license to fly removed for good. They never gave it a thought that their passengers were in harms way..
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> <b>Mid-air scuffle: AI suspends pilot, purser; to form probe panel</b>
pioneer.com
PTI | New Delhi
<b>Air India on Tuesday suspended a senior pilot and a flight purser of a Delhi-bound international flight after an inquiry found them guilty of playing a major role in the mid-air scuffle that led an air hostess to file a molestation case against two pilots</b>.
After examining a report of its internal enquiry, the airline management also decided to set up a committee to probe the molestation charge while keeping the complainant,<b> air hostess Komal Singh, grounded till the probe was over</b>.
<b>Those suspended were Commander Ranbir Arora and Flight Purser Amit Khanna,</b> an airline spokesman said, adding that <b>co-pilot Aditya Chopra would continue to remain de-rostered till the inquiry ends.</b> Chargesheets will also be issued against the two suspended employees.
Meanwhile, the city police, which lodged a case following Komal's complaint, has recorded statements of some "concerned persons" but did not identify them. Komal had charged the pilot and co-pilot with molestation and assault.
Delhi Police chief Y S Dadwal said the department has also asked the airline to provide the list of passengers travelling in the business class of flight IC-884 from Sharjah to Delhi via Lucknow on October three.
By virtue of being seated in the front of the aircraft and near the cockpit, these passengers could act as crucial eye-witnesses to the scuffle and throw light on the incident, a senior police official said.
The three-member Air India probe panel found that Arora and Khanna had played "greater role" in the incident.
<b>While the "attitude" of flight purser Khanna led to the altercation that later blew up into a scuffle, the behaviour of flight commander Arora, who pushed the air hostess out of the cockpit, was "objectionable", the panel concluded</b>.
The inquiry also concluded that at no point of time did the two pilots leave the cockpit unmanned endangering flight safety.
The findings of the departmental inquiry, set up now, will determine the extent of involvement and <b>culpability of Arora and Khanna and the quantum of punishment to be awarded to them will be decided accordingly.</b>
Reacting to the suspension of the senior pilot, Indian Commercial Pilots Association President Shailendra Singh said "we have full faith in the management. Whatever they have decided is as per the preliminary inquiry" but added that they reserved the right to appeal after the final outcome.
He told reporters that separate inquiries were being conducted by the airline, the police and the DGCA. "Let these be completed, then only we will decide, whether to appeal or what should be done," he said.
Asserting that whoever was found guilty should be punished, Singh said "if there was some problem, there is a proper place to resolve it. Aircraft certainly is not the right place to sort out your issues. The issues should have been settled amicably."
The ICPA chief tried to maintain a balance between the pilots and the cabin crew and said "the whole issue has made a mockery of aviation and created an element of distrust among us.
<b>"Cabin crew is there not just to serve tea and coffee, they have the responsibility of maintaining safety of the aircraft too," he said.
Singh also appealed to Komal "not to come under any pressure".</b>
<b>"If she has been misguided then she should take the correct step"</b>, he said adding that he had seen "bruises" on the face of the co-pilot<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Quote:India inaugurated a multi-billion-dollar airport terminal in New Delhi on Saturday -- a shiny glass and steel symbol of the country's aspirations as an emerging global power.
The state-of-the-art hub, which cost nearly three billion dollars and can handle 34 million passengers a year, was showcased at a special ceremony by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ahead of opening to the public later this month.
Built in just 37 months to coincide with New Delhi's hosting of the Commonwealth Games in October, the terminal sprawls over four square kilometres (1.5 square miles) and boasts 97 automated walkways and 78 aerobridges.
[url="http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110311/wl_sthasia_afp/indiaairlinepilotdrink_20110311170633"]56 Indian airline pilots fail alcohol tests: govt[/url]
Quote:NEW DELHI (AFP) ââ¬â Fifty-six pilots working for Indian airlines have failed alcohol tests in the last two years, according to a list issued by the civil aviation ministry.
Ten pilots were fired after they failed tests, including one who was found over the limit on two occasions, according to the list released by Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi in parliament Thursday.
The fifty-six pilots worked for the state-owned national carrier Air India, as well as private airlines Jet Airways, Indigo, SpiceJet, GoAir, and Kingfisher.
Twenty-three pilots from India's top airline company Jet Airways failed their tests, but the airline did not sack any of them, putting them on suspension and subjecting them to a pay cut instead.
The list of pilots was issued a day after two pilots were found flying passenger planes with forged qualifications, deepening concerns about safety on India's booming airlines.
India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) drafted regulations recently, stipulating that pilots arriving to work drunk would be grounded for three months for a first offence and lose their flying licence after a second.
[url="http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Punjab/Govt-employees-can-now-fly-Air-India-luxury-style/Article1-844558.aspx"]Govt employees can now fly Air India 'luxury style'[/url]
Quote: [size="5"]The airline has been suffering huge losses for the past several years.[/size]
In a communication from the finance department, Air India had introduced an exclusive travel policy which was limited to officials of the Central government only. The policy has now been extended to cover employees of state governments as well as public sector undertakings.
The travel policy also includes a companion-free scheme which is available on all sectors: first class, executive and economy class. Free upgrades to the next higher class is also available, subject to availability at departure, says the statement.
Moreover, officials travelling on transfer or on home leave could avail of 80 kg excess baggage on Air India international sectors and for other travelling purposes they could avail 10 kg excess baggage on international and domestic sectors.
The statement further said that officials travelling in first and executive class could avail the lounge facilities worldwide while officials travelling in economy class, both domestic and international, could avail of the same at Air India owned lounges. These special offers are available for ticketing done directly at Air India offices.
The statements also mentions dedicated cells that have been set-up in metro offices, to assist state government and state enterprises employees.
Now , this babu policy will make Air-India profitable, already useless airlines, now it will go completely in drain. Never fly Air India.
May be, this is only fastest way to shut down Air-India. <img src='http://www.india-forum.com/forums/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />
CAG REPORT Private partner DIAL got ââ¬Ëundueââ¬â¢ benefits both before and after signing the JV deal
NEW DELHI: The Comptroller and Auditor-general of India (CAG) hinted in its report on the Delhi airport modernisation project that the Centre had given out prime land, which would have fetched R1.63 lakh crore, to its private sector partner, Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL).
The CAG report, accessed by HT, but not yet tabled in Parliament, said the company had got 4,799.09 acres on a R100 annual lease rent for 60 years for an equity contribution of only R1,813 crore. A DIAL spokesperson, however, said, ââ¬ÅWe arenââ¬â¢t privy to the findings of the report and, therefore, arenââ¬â¢t in a position to respond to it at present.ââ¬Â
Whatââ¬â¢s more, the operations, management and development deal signed by the Airports Authority of India permitted the company to utilise 5% of the land for commercial exploitation. Consultancy firm Merrill Lynch had worked out the valuation of the land at R100 crore an acre. ââ¬ÅSo, the total current value of the land available to DIALââ¬Â¦ would amount to R24,000 crore,ââ¬Â the report stated.
The CAG said, ââ¬ÅThe projected earning capacity of this land (239.95 acres), in terms of licence fee over the concession period of 58 years, was indicated by DIAL, itself, as R681.63 crore per acre in a letter to the joint secretary, aviation ministry.ââ¬Â
The auditor also pointed out that the governmentââ¬â¢s decision to offer a ââ¬Åpost-contractual benefitââ¬Â to DIAL of levying development fees had forced passengers to cough up R3,415.35 crore towards the project cost.
The auditor said the original deal did not mention that part of the project cost would be raised through development fees. It said, if the joint venture was to have the permission to levy the fee, it should have been made known to all the other bidders too.
Delhi airport charges R1,300 and R200 per passenger for international and domestic travel, respectively. Besides, from May 15, DIAL also started charging a user development fee of R436 to R1,068 from international and R195 to R462 from domestic passengers.
The ministry of civil aviation informed the auditor that ââ¬Åthe decision to restructure and modernise Delhi airport was a policy decision of the cabinet. The terms and conditions, as well as the modalities, were finalised and approved by the Empowered Group of Ministers.ââ¬Â
Total rip off. Extra $70+ from International passenger. They are day time robbers. Bribe ministers and babus and get whatever rules they want. Already, airport maintenance is down in drain.
Last month, Delhi Airport staff stole my stuff from my suitcase. No action was taken.
Bathrooms are either not operational or knobs are already loose. CSF staff at security are worse than police man with danda. Idiots are lazy, too many people not doing nothing. 7 khaki CSf were doing one person job. Morning 7 am, these guys were fighting with each other, ignoring people are waiting for security clearance and can miss flight. Hey Ho they were busy fighting, that has to be settle first.
As soon as one enters airport, idiots government staff starts begging. Previously, local call were free. Now they charge and one person assigned to each telephone corner. Over staff, under performed, total rip off airport.
Anyway, Douhet is right about the need to support aviation, one reason President Obama needs to stop trashing corporate aviation and corporate jets. We need that industry and to keep all those aerospace engineers employed and coming up with better technologies.
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
