Showing posts with label Flight info. Show all posts

Thursday, May 16, 2024

AI-Vistara merger awaiting foreign direct investment, other approvals: Singapore Airlines

Vistara is a joint venture between Singapore Airlines and Tatas, which also owns Air India.

New Delhi | May 15, 2024 21:56 IST

The Singapore Airlines group posted a 24 per cent rise in net profit at 2,675 million Singapore dollars for FY 2023-24, helped by robust air travel demand. (File/ Reuters)

Singapore Airlines Group on Wednesday said the proposed Air India and Vistara merger, which is awaiting foreign direct investment and other approvals, will strengthen its multi-hub strategy as well as allow it to continue directly participating in the fast-growing Indian aviation market.

The group posted a 24 per cent rise in net profit at 2,675 million Singapore dollars for FY 2023-24, helped by robust air travel demand.

In a release, the group said it has reported the highest full-year operating and net profits in its history as robust demand for air travel drives record passenger revenue and load factors.

About Air India-Vistara merger, the group said foreign direct investment and other regulatory approvals are pending.

Vistara is a joint venture between Singapore Airlines and Tatas, which also owns Air India.

“Once completed, it will give SIA a 25.1 per cent stake in an enlarged Air India Group with a significant presence in all key Indian airline market segments, including domestic, international, full-service, and low-cost.

“This will strengthen SIA’s multi-hub strategy, and allow the group to continue participating directly in this large and fast-growing aviation market,” the release said.

The merger, announced in November 2022, was approved by the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore in March. In September 2023, the deal received approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI), subject to certain conditions.

On the outlook, the Singapore Airlines Group said the demand for air travel remains healthy in the first quarter of FY2024/25, supported by a strong pick up in forward bookings to North Asia and South East Asia.

Passenger yields will likely continue to moderate due to increased capacity injection by airlines, especially in the Asia-Pacific region, it noted.

However, it also mentioned that the airline industry continues to face challenges including rising geopolitical tensions, an uncertain macroeconomic climate, supply chain constraints, and high inflation in many parts of the world.

First uploaded on: 15-05-2024 at 21:56 IST

Monday, April 15, 2024

Vistara-Air India 'merged entity...': 'Process complete' on THIS front - Vistara CEO

Vistara employees can expect clarity regarding their roles within the integrated entity of Air India by May and June, as CEO Vinod Kannan communicated to them on Saturday. The Tata group, having acquired Air India two years ago as part of their aviation business restructuring, is now merging Vistara into the national carrier.

Authored by:ET Now Digital

Updated Apr 14, 2024 | 06:17 PM IST

Kannan assured employees that the leadership teams are actively working on finalizing the organogram for the merged entity, with the process nearing completion for most verticals. He emphasized the aim to conclude this process by the end of the month, providing employees with a clearer picture of their future roles.

As per Economic Times report, however, the merger process has faced challenges, notably from pilots, particularly first officers, who are apprehensive about potential salary impacts from the new structure. This, combined with crew availability constraints, resulted in over 100 flight cancellations and a 10% reduction in flights for April, despite the airline operating around 350 flights daily.

Additionally, several senior management officials have resigned due to uncertainty surrounding their roles in the merged entity.

Acknowledging the concerns among staff, Kannan reassured them that every Vistara employee would find a relevant and suitable role in the merged organization. To address specific concerns, the airline plans to organize town hall meetings with pilots and cabin crews in the coming week, focusing on issues such as seniority and potential changes to contracts post-merger.

Despite the challenges, Kannan expressed confidence in the airline's operations, noting improvements in on-time performance from 50% on April 1 to 89% on April 9, following the stabilization of operations due to planned flight cancellations.

"We are already on the right track, and I am confident that this will be soon behind us. We have been operating a trusted and loved airline for the last decade, and I look forward to all your support to ensure that this remains the case till the merger," Kannan stated in his communication to employees.

Sunday, April 7, 2024

Vistara asserts ‘over 98%’ pilots signed new contracts after sizeable number said to have rejected pay terms

Vistara asserts ‘over 98%’ pilots signed new contracts after sizeable number said to have rejected pay terms

Industry sources, however, contend that the number of Vistara pilots who had not accepted the new pay structure announced in mid-February were far more in number than the airline was publicly admitting.

April 06, 2024 03:16 pm | Updated 09:58 pm IST

JAGRITI CHANDRA

Vistara airline has more than 1,100 pilots on its rolls | Photo Credit: Reuters

Vistara’s CEO Vinod Kannan on Saturday asserted that “over 98% of pilots” had signed new contracts entailing a new pay structure, which has been cited by industry sources as a key issue that had led to a spate of recent flight cancellations and delays at the full service airline that is set to merge with the Tata Group’s Air India. The industry sources, however, contended that the number of Vistara pilots who had not accepted the new pay structure announced in mid-February were far more in number than the airline was publicly admitting.

“Over 98% of pilots have signed the new contract,” Mr. Kannan said in an e-mailed statement to The Hindu. “Having said that, we are aware that some pilots have some concerns and queries regarding the contract. We are engaging with them to clarify and resolve the same,” he stated, adding that this had, however, ‘not caused any visible spike in attrition’ among pilots.

The CEO, who had held a town hall with pilots on April 4 to address their concerns after the airline was forced to cancel 150 flights and suffer delays to more than 200 other flights in the preceding three to four days, is reported to have told participants at that event that 270 pilots had not signed the contract, according to multiple people who had participated at the online meeting and spoke on the condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the issue.

This would imply that almost a fourth of Vistara’s total cockpit crew were opposed to the terms of the new contract, which cuts the guaranteed minimum flying allowance from 70 hours to 40 hours resulting in a monthly pay cut of ₹80,000 to ₹1.4 lakh for First Officers (FOs or junior pilots). The airline has more than 1,100 pilots on its rolls.

Acknowledging the gravity of the recent disruptions to the airline’s flight schedules and its impact on customers, Mr. Kannan said in the statement, “In the light of the recent disruptions in our network owing to various operational reasons, we acknowledge and are deeply concerned about the inconvenience this has caused to our customers”.

“We are addressing this on a war footing... we are continuing to hire more pilots and are also carefully scaling back our operations slightly to provide the much needed resilience, and a buffer in the rosters. We have also deployed larger aircraft like our B787-9 Dreamliner and A321neo aircraft on select domestic routes to accommodate more customers, wherever possible,” he observed, adding that the airline hoped to stabilise operations “by this weekend”.

Industry sources said discontentment among pilots over various issues, including taxing flight schedules, delay in upgrades for FOs to the post of Pilot-in-Command had been brewing for a while, resulting in resignations that had precipitated the disruptions and coincided with the announcement of the new pay structure two months ago. This had particularly angered the FOs, they added.

“As opposed to Commanders who have been on the job for several years, First Officers have the sword of repayment of loans incurred for training hanging over their head,” said Mohan Ranganathan, a veteran former Boeing 737 flying instructor with Air India. “They have agreed to pay EMIs based on their projected income, which will change post the new salary structure. Trainings costs have also escalated sharply in the recent past and the current batch of First Officers across airlines have spent ₹80 lakh to ₹1 crore to complete their training.”

Mr. Kannan is said to have told pilots at the town hall that notwithstanding the refusal of a section of pilots to accept the new pay structure under the revised contract, the airline’s stand remained the same as communicated by the HR department. HR officials had informed pilots that failure to sign the new contract by March 15 would result in consequences that would include their losing a one-time pay out linked to the merger as well as forfeiting their place in the sequence for upgrade.

The CEO is said to have admitted at the town hall that there was a failure to align network expansion with pilot strength leading to them working longer hours and flights being stretched too thin, which had caused the large number of cancellations and delays.

However, it is reliably learnt that Air India is likely to send 15-20 First Officers (FOs) on deputation to Vistara from next week as an equal number of pilots have left the airline to join IndiGo and Qatar.

Further, to improve the ratio of pilots and aircraft, six planes are expected to be shifted from Vistara and another 14 from Air India to the low-cost international subsidiary in the Tata Group, Air India Express. The planes being moved are all-economy aircraft.

The CEO has already said that the airline will continue to cancel flights till the end of April in order to create a buffer of pilots.

A mismanagement of pilot training has also raised eyebrows within the airline on the alleged impact on safety, as well as resulted in a show-cause notice from the DGCA earlier this month, said the industry sources.

“We are in receipt of a show-cause notice from DGCA and are in discussion with the regulator on this subject,” Mr. Kannan acknowledged in the statement on Saturday.

“The situation is so dire, that the last two Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners, including the one that joined the fleet last week on March 29, were ferried from Boeing’s aircraft assembly facility in Charleston [in the U.S.] to New Delhi by the manufacturer’s pilots as the airline didn’t have enough of its own. The Dreamliner delivery was also delayed because of the same issue,” said a person in the know.

“Had Air India not sent its widebody pilots to Vistara, the latter would have to ground as many as three of its widebodies,” said another source.

Friday, March 22, 2024

Customer-facing parts of Air India-Vistara merger won’t change before 2025: AI CEO

2 min read 20 Mar 2024, 04:17 PM IST Join us

Anu Sharma

Campbell Wilson said Vistara would eventually be subsumed under the globally recognised Air India brand, but not until “some time next year”.Air India chief executive Campbell Wilson. Photo: Reuters

New Delhi: The merger of full-service carriers Air India and Vistara is a complex process and customer-facing elements, including the brand, won’t change before 2025, Air India’s chief executive and managing director Campbell Wilson said.

"Behind-the-scenes planning is underway. The regulatory and legal [approvals] are in process. The customer-facing elements will take some time [to change] and we are not rushing it," Wilson said at the Skift India summit on Wednesday.

Air India, a state-run airline for 69 years, was reacquired by the Tata Group under a government-led strategic disinvestment programme in January 2022. Later that year the Tata group announced a merger of Air India and Vistara.

Vistara, currently a 51:49 joint venture of Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, commenced operations in 2015. After the merger, Singapore Airlines will hold a 25.1% stake in the combined entity.

The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) recently gave conditional approval to the merger, six months after the Competition Commission of India approved it in September 2023. This will allow the two airlines to efficiently plan their routes and codeshare network.

"We have been very clear that Vistara in the long term will become Air India. The Air India brand is 92 years old. It is recognised around the world. Vistara has a very, very strong reputation and awareness in India, but not so much globally," Wilson said.

"A lot of the things that we are doing are modelled on what Vistara does, but we will eventually be collapsing the two. As I say, we won't be rushing it. It will probably be [completed] some time next year," he added.

Air India, which carries about 12% of international air traffic to and from India, also sees an opportunity in the medium-haul and long-haul international market. The airline said the order for 470 aircraft that it placed in February 2023 will help it address this capacity shortage in India’s large market. The Air India group has been procuring aircraft from the new order at a rate of one every six days, with three A350s and more than 15 Boeing 737 MAX inducted so far.

"India can be home to at least three hubs. In addition to those, there are plenty of point-to-point services. [The market] is probably a similar sort of size to [those of] Europe or North America. North India has a good east-west flow, and south India has a good Asia-Africa and even Australasia-Europe flow," Wilson said.

Air India’s desire for multiple hubs in India is shared by the broader industry and the civil aviation ministry. The government is working on a National Aviation Hub policy which will encourage more non-stop flights from international destinations to Indian metro cities and seek to establish hubs similar to those in Singapore, Dubai and Doha.

"The international opportunity is staring everyone in the face. In [some hubs], upwards of 70-90% of people are not going to that place – they are going through that place. I think if we get the basics right and are credible, we will get the time-sensitive, discerning, premium traveller who values the experience that we are going to provide," he added.

Friday, March 15, 2024

Over 40 Air India passengers left without luggage upon landing at Amsterdam Sources at the airlines said that due to a technical issue, baggage of around 40 passengers could not be offloaded at the Amsterdam airport on Wednesday. PTI Last Updated 14 ...

Over 40 Air India passengers left without luggage upon landing at Amsterdam Sources at the airlines said that due to a technical issue, baggage of around 40 passengers could not be offloaded at the Amsterdam airport on Wednesday. PTI Last Updated 14 ...

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Air India-Vistara merger gets Singapore's conditional approval

Reuters | Mar 5, 2024, 04.36 PM IST

Air India-Vistara merger gets Singapore's conditional approval

Singapore's competition watchdog said on Tuesday it has approved the merger between Tata Group-owned Air India and sister airline Vistara, a joint venture between Tata and Singapore Airlines, subject to certain conditions.

Singapore's flagship carrier announced its plan to merge Vistara and Air India in November 2022, in a bid to create a dominant full-service airline in the domestic and international markets.

While India's antitrust body approved the deal in September last year, the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) had identified certain competition concerns regarding the merger.

The watchdog said the parties possessed the majority of the market share among airlines operating direct flights on four routes of concern - between Singapore and Indian cities of New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Tiruchirapalli.

To address the concerns raised by the watchdog, the parties have proposed to maintain capacity on the said flights at pre-COVID levels, appoint independent auditors to monitor compliance with capacity commitments and submit annual as well as interim reports.

"CCCS considers the proposed commitments sufficient to address the competition concerns arising from the transactions," the watchdog said on Tuesday.

Singapore Airlines and Air India did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

According to the terms of the deal, autos-to-steel conglomerate Tata would hold 74.9% of the combined entity, while Singapore Airlines will own the remaining 25.1%.

AI-Vistara merger gets approval from Singapore panel

TNN | Mar 6, 2024, 06.01 AM IST

NEW DELHI: The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) has granted conditional approval for merging Vistara - which is owned 49% by Singapore Airlines (SIA) - into Air India. SIA will hold 25.1% stake in the merged AI, with Tatas having the remaining stake.

The CCCS "identified some competition concerns" in this transaction, especially as these airlines have a significant number of flights between Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Tiruchirapalli on the Indian side and Singapore on the other.

"Even though a number of competing airlines provide air passenger transport services on these routes, the parties have sustained substantial market share in recent years. CCCS also found that the price and capacity coordination between the parties arising from the confluence of the transactions would significantly restrict competition on the affected routes," the regulator said in a statement.

Air India Express commences Chennai- Kuwait direct flights Flights can now be booked on the airline’s award-winning mobile app and website, airindiaex

https://www.dtnext.in/news/business/air-india-express-commences-chennai-kuwait-direct-flights-772116

Monday, January 1, 2024

Gold Worth Crores Found Hidden In Rectum, Coffee Machine At Lucknow Airport

Gold Worth Crores Found Hidden In Rectum, Coffee Machine At Lucknow Airport

In the first case, gold was concealed in a coffee machine which was intercepted on suspicion during scanning, while in the second case, gold was recovered from the rectum of the passenger.

Lucknow News Asian News InternationalUpdated: December 31, 2023 7:26 pm IST

The official recovered around four kilograms of gold

Lucknow:

Customs officials at Lucknow's Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport (CCSI) recovered around four kilograms of gold worth ₹ 2.55 crore from two passengers who landed at the airport on Sunday morning.

A senior Customs official informed that two separate cases have been booked by officers of CCSI Airport Lucknow within the Lucknow Customs (P) Commissionerate in the morning hours.

In the first case, gold weighing 3.497 Kg was concealed in a coffee machine which was intercepted on suspicion during scanning, later the product was found to be abnormally heavy and seen as broken and then two gold cylindrical bars were found inside after cutting the properly welded part by tools. Gold as above was coming from Dubai via IX 194 flight.

In a separate case, 554 grams of gold was recovered from the rectum of the passenger based on inputs and suspicion found during a routine search. The passenger was coming from Sharjah via Flight no 6E1424.

Further investigation is under process.

"Two separate cases have been booked at CCSI Airport Lucknow today morning at 5 am, total weighing 4.05 Kg worth ₹ 2.55 Cr," said the official.

Tuesday, November 21, 2023

Flights cancelled

THE HINDU BUREAU

TIRUCHI

21.11.2023

IndiGo on Monday cancelled its flights on Tiruchi-Chennai sector citing ‘operational reasons’.

The airline operates five ATR flights, each with 78 seats, in the sector daily with the first flight departing at 7.50 a.m., second one at 11 a.m., third at 2 p.m., fourth at 5 p.m. and the fifth at 8 p.m.

Airline sources said four out of the five ATR flights were cancelled on Monday due to ‘operational reasons’. Istead of an ATR flight at 5 p.m, the airline operated an A-320 flight with 186 seats from Tiruchi to Chennai.

Thursday, July 20, 2023

AIRPORT NEWS

Monday, March 27, 2023

Mid-air scare: Nepal asks Indian authorities to take action against Air India pilots

Mid-air scare: Nepal asks Indian authorities to take action against Air India pilots

Jagannath Niraula, spokesperson of the Authority, said that a letter has been sent to Air India with a message to India's civil aviation authority to investigate and take action on the matter.

Published: 26th March 2023 09:20 PM |

(File Photo | EPS)

By IANS

KATHMANDU: Nepal's aviation authority has banned pilots of an Air India flight from flying in Nepali airspace after they brought down their airplane to 15,000 feet on Friday without the permission of the Air Traffic Controller (ATC), nearly causing a mid-air collision with a Nepal Airlines flight over Kathmandu.

On Friday, before landing at the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, the Air India plane from New Delhi, flying at an unauthorized height of 19,000 feet, suddenly fell to 15,000 feet.

This made it almost collide with a Nepal Airlines plane coming to Kathmandu from Kuala Lumpur and the accident was averted after the Nepal Airlines pilots took down their plane to 7,000 feet.

The Nepal Airlines plane was holding at a height of 15,000 feet when the plane of Air India suddenly came down to the same level. As the two came in a position of collision, an alert was automatically sounded in both cockpits and a possible fatal accident was averted, said officials at the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN).

Following the incident, the CAAN has suspended Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs) of Tribhuvan International Airport involved in the traffic conflict incident from active control positions until further notice. It has also written to its Indian counterpart to take action against the Air India pilots who were involved in the incident that happened on Friday.

Jagannath Niraula, spokesperson of the Authority, said that a letter has been sent to Air India with a message to India's civil aviation authority to investigate and take action on the matter.

"We have written to investigate the incident between Air India and Nepal Airlines and take necessary action and inform the authority," he said.

On the same day also, the airport authorities in Kathmandu had sought explanations from the Air India pilots where they had admitted their mistake and apologised.

The CAAN has also set up an inquiry committee in connection with the incident, said Niruala.

Sunday, January 22, 2023

SCOOT ACTED PROMPTLY OVER RESCHEDULED FLIGHT

Saturday, January 7, 2023

Man who urinated on Air India woman flyer 'begged her to not file complaint as he has a family'

Man who urinated on Air India woman flyer 'begged her to not file complaint as he has a family'

The victim alleged that despite her willingness, she was forced to confront the accused and negotiate with him, further disorientating her, according to the FIR.

Published: 06th January 2023 01:00 PM

By Ujwal Jalali

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The woman, who was subjected to extreme humiliation in an Air India flight from New York to Delhi, has shared stomach-churning details in the complaint she lodged against a co-passenger for urinating on her during her travel.In the FIR, accessed by TNIE, the woman stated her clothes, shoes and bags were soaked in urine and the Air India crew refused to touch them and sprayed her bag and shoes with disinfectant.

“My clothes, shoes and bag were soaked in urine. The bag contained my passport, travel documents and currency. The flight staff refused to touch them, sprayed my bag and shoes with disinfectant, and took me to the bathroom and gave me a set of airline pyjamas and socks,” the woman said in her complaint.

As per the FIR, the woman then asked the staff to change her seat, but was told that no other seats were available.

“The flight crew told me that the pilot vetoed giving me a seat in first class. After I was standing for 20 minutes, one of the senior flight staff offered me the small crew seat, where I sat for about 2 hours. I was then asked to return to the initial soiled seat. The seat was still damp and reeking of urine,” she said.

The 70-year-old woman was then given the steward seat for the rest of the journey.

She mentioned that she wanted the man to be arrested immediately and later the flight staff told the woman that the alleged man wanted to apologise. “I stated clearly that I did not want to interact with him or see his face, and that all I wanted was for him to be arrested on arrival. However, the crew brought the offender before me against my wishes, and we were made to sit opposite each other in the crew seats,” the

FIR read.

The woman said that she was “stunned” when the man started crying and profusely apologised to her.

“He begged me not to lodge a complaint against him because he is a family man and did not want his wife and child to be affected,” she said.

She told the accused man that his actions were inexcusable. “But in the face of his pleading and begging in front of me, and my own shock and trauma, I found it difficult to insist on his arrest or to press charges against him,” she added.Meanwhile, Delhi Police has summoned the pilot and other crew members who were on board in the flight from New York to Delhi.