Airliners-India.com Flickr Group & Facebook    FAQ   Search   Memberlist   Usergroups   Register   Profile   Log in to check your private messages   Log in  Air India News -- Part 28 Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10  Next          Airliners-India.com Forum Index -> Civil Aviation View previous topic :: View next topic   Author Message 747-237 Member Joined: 11 Jun 2007 Posts: 11351 Location: Gordon Gekko's Boardroom Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2014 5:04 pm    Post subject: jbalonso777 wrote: Whatever happened to VT-ALV/W/X? Officially, they are still "on order". _________________ 11000 posts (and counting) on Airliners-India. Back to top sumantra Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2014 7:25 pm    Post subject: 747-237 wrote: jbalonso777 wrote: Whatever happened to VT-ALV/W/X? Officially, they are still "on order". There was also some news about three B77Ws to be configured for V(V)IP movements. Given AI's current schedules, VVIP movements do not have that much effect on passenger operations as long as they are done on the B744s, which are operated sparingly anyway, unlike in the dark days of the old. I wonder if AI may go in for the B789, given their mixed experiences with the B788 (the lovely economics + the tech niggle headaches). Cheers, Sumantra. Back to top 747-237 Member Joined: 11 Jun 2007 Posts: 11351 Location: Gordon Gekko's Boardroom Posted: Sun Sep 07, 2014 4:56 pm    Post subject: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/transportation/airlines-/-aviation/chicago-delhi-air-india-flight-diverted-to-toronto/articleshow/41931807.cms Chicago-Delhi Air India flight diverted to Toronto 7 Sep, 2014 An Air India Chicago-Delhi flight, carrying 342 passengers, was diverted to Toronto this morning after the pilot suspected oil leakage in one of its engines, officials said. After flying for two and a half hours from Chicago, the AI 126 Chicago-Delhi-Hyderabad flight turned to Toronto Pearson Airport, airline officials said here. It landed at the Toronto airport under emergency conditions after disposing of its fuel onboard. The twin-engine aircraft landed safely around 0700 hours IST, they said. Ground engineers were inspecting the port engine of the Boeing 777 ER (Extended Range). A decision on bringing the passengers to Delhi and Hyderabad will be taken after the inspection is over, they said. _________________ 11000 posts (and counting) on Airliners-India. Back to top Nimish Member Joined: 16 Dec 2006 Posts: 9757 Location: Bangalore, India Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2014 12:56 pm    Post subject: 342 pax - sounds like a decent load! _________________ We miss you Nalini! Back to top abhijith16 Member Joined: 14 Sep 2010 Posts: 1575 Location: DOH/IXE/MEL Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2014 1:26 pm    Post subject: Nimish wrote: 342 pax - sounds like a decent load! It's actually a full load. AI's 77Ws are configured - 4F35J303Y = 342PAX. _________________ <a><img></a> Back to top sumantra Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2014 1:28 pm    Post subject: Nimish wrote: 342 pax - sounds like a decent load! Nimish: that is a full B77W in all classes. 4+35+303 = 342. I am just back from a Chicago trip on the AI 127/126 combo. On both legs, the plane was jam-packed. On AI 127 25 Aug'14, the loads were 3-35-303 i.e., just the one F class seat empty, and with no non-revs or upgraded pax in any class. n the return, I did not get the C and J occupancy, but the Economy was 100% full again, 31 Aug 2014, something I picked up from the check-in agent. This is Air India's new cash cow. And if you saw the cargo loads, you would not believe that this airline loses any money. Currently, this is Air India's best-performing route, since the `Gujju Express' AI 191/144 is load-restricted owing to the Mumbai billboards. Cheers, Sumantra. Back to top The_Goat Member Joined: 03 Mar 2007 Posts: 3260 Location: South of France Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2014 2:05 pm    Post subject: sumantra wrote: Currently, this is Air India's best-performing route, since the `Gujju Express' AI 191/144 is load-restricted owing to the Mumbai billboards. Cheers, Sumantra. How ridiculous is that? Can not AI use its governmental clout to get those billboards removed? Or have those billboards been put up there by someone with even greater political clout? _________________ I don't know which is the more pampered bunch : AI's widebodies (the aunties) or Jet's widebodies (the planes). -Jasepl Back to top sumantra Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2014 2:14 pm    Post subject: The_Goat wrote: Can not AI use its governmental clout to get those billboards removed? Or have those billboards been put up there by someone with even greater political clout? You have it right, Sir. This was discusses on a thread in this forum some time back. Rutvij had mentioned that the heights were dangerous for an engine-out on take-off. Very sad, but true. Back to top sumantra Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2014 2:16 pm    Post subject: abhijith16 wrote: Nimish wrote: 342 pax - sounds like a decent load! It's actually a full load. AI's 77Ws are configured - 4F35J303Y = 342PAX. Abhijith Sir: you beat me to the first reply, by 30 seconds Back to top sri_bom Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 2365 Location: Singapore Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2014 3:39 pm    Post subject: sumantra wrote: abhijith16 wrote: Nimish wrote: 342 pax - sounds like a decent load! It's actually a full load. AI's 77Ws are configured - 4F35J303Y = 342PAX. Abhijith Sir: you beat me to the first reply, by 30 seconds Does this not affect the A380 take off? They are huge planes as well? Sri_Bom Back to top sri_bom Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 2365 Location: Singapore Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2014 3:39 pm    Post subject: Air India may not get a private sector CEO News 8-Sep-2014 12:05 PM India's Government is reportedly drafting guidelines seeking to ensure that the position of Air India chairman and MD is reserved for applications in the public sector (Live Mint, 07-Sep-2014). The Civil Aviation Ministry has reportedly sent the new guidelines to the Department of Personnel and Training. The post of Air India CMD is likely to be advertised soon. The eligibility criteria for becoming the next Air India chairman requires one to be an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the rank of additional secretary or a joint secretary with a certain level of experience. Back to top abhijith16 Member Joined: 14 Sep 2010 Posts: 1575 Location: DOH/IXE/MEL Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2014 3:42 pm    Post subject: sri_bom wrote: sumantra wrote: abhijith16 wrote: Nimish wrote: 342 pax - sounds like a decent load! It's actually a full load. AI's 77Ws are configured - 4F35J303Y = 342PAX. Abhijith Sir: you beat me to the first reply, by 30 seconds Does this not affect the A380 take off? They are huge planes as well? Sri_Bom The problem is the performance of the aircraft. Apparently, the billboard is so high that AI has to reduce load (PAX+CARGO+FUEL) in order to allow for it to take off safely. Whereas, the A380 is being deployed to places which does not require a lot of fuel (i.e - DXB/SIN/FRA), hence can clear the safe height easily. _________________ <a><img></a> Back to top Nimish Member Joined: 16 Dec 2006 Posts: 9757 Location: Bangalore, India Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2014 3:49 pm    Post subject: sri_bom wrote: Does this not affect the A380 take off? They are huge planes as well? Sri_Bom If the issue is with an engine out performance of a 77W during climb, that is not as much of a worry with the 380 as it has 4 engines, so one engine out still leaves it with 75% power. _________________ We miss you Nalini! Back to top The_Goat Member Joined: 03 Mar 2007 Posts: 3260 Location: South of France Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2014 4:09 pm    Post subject: abhijith16 wrote: The problem is the performance of the aircraft. Apparently, the billboard is so high that AI has to reduce load (PAX+CARGO+FUEL) in order to allow for it to take off safely. Whereas, the A380 is being deployed to places which does not require a lot of fuel (i.e - DXB/SIN/FRA), hence can clear the safe height easily. That problem can be easily fixed by routing the aircraft BOM-AMD-EWR. This way, the fuel load can be kept to a minimum for the t/o from BOM, with the filling for the long sector being done in AMD. Unless there is some other problem that prevents AMD from being the first iternational port for entry/exit. _________________ I don't know which is the more pampered bunch : AI's widebodies (the aunties) or Jet's widebodies (the planes). -Jasepl Back to top 747-237 Member Joined: 11 Jun 2007 Posts: 11351 Location: Gordon Gekko's Boardroom Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2014 6:55 pm    Post subject: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/transportation/airlines-/-aviation/air-india-diverts-flight-to-pick-up-stranded-passengers-in-toronto/articleshow/42023018.cms Air India diverts flight to pick up stranded passengers in Toronto 8 Sep, 2014 Air India today diverted its New York-Delhi flight to Toronto to bring home over 250 passengers of Chicago-Delhi flight who were stranded in the Canadian city after a suspected oil leakage in its engine led the Boeing 777 to make an emergency landing there. The Boeing 777-300 ER (Extended Range), operating flight AI-102 from New York's JFK Airport to Delhi, was flown to Toronto's Pearson Airport to pick up the passengers, airline sources said here. They said the flight would land here around 2100 hours today, instead of its scheduled time of 1430 hours. Engineers of Air India and Boeing inspected the aircraft, also a Boeing 777-300 ER that was operating the Chicago-Delhi flight AI-126 yesterday, they said, adding that repairs were being undertaken in the aircraft. The pilot suspected oil leakage in the port engine of the twin-engined aircraft and decided to divert to Toronto, where it landed under emergency conditions after jettisoning its fuel onboard as per safety practice, the officials said. The flight was to have travelled further to Hyderabad from Delhi. The stranded passengers were provided accommodation in Toronto, they added. _________________ 11000 posts (and counting) on Airliners-India. Back to top sri_bom Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 2365 Location: Singapore Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2014 6:58 pm    Post subject: abhijith16 wrote: sri_bom wrote: sumantra wrote: abhijith16 wrote: Nimish wrote: 342 pax - sounds like a decent load! It's actually a full load. AI's 77Ws are configured - 4F35J303Y = 342PAX. Abhijith Sir: you beat me to the first reply, by 30 seconds Does this not affect the A380 take off? They are huge planes as well? Sri_Bom The problem is the performance of the aircraft. Apparently, the billboard is so high that AI has to reduce load (PAX+CARGO+FUEL) in order to allow for it to take off safely. Whereas, the A380 is being deployed to places which does not require a lot of fuel (i.e - DXB/SIN/FRA), hence can clear the safe height easily. Thanks Abhijit and Nimish for the insight. Sri_Bom Back to top Caliguy Member Joined: 14 Nov 2007 Posts: 723 Location: Los Angeles Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2014 7:00 pm    Post subject: The_Goat wrote: abhijith16 wrote: The problem is the performance of the aircraft. Apparently, the billboard is so high that AI has to reduce load (PAX+CARGO+FUEL) in order to allow for it to take off safely. Whereas, the A380 is being deployed to places which does not require a lot of fuel (i.e - DXB/SIN/FRA), hence can clear the safe height easily. That problem can be easily fixed by routing the aircraft BOM-AMD-EWR. This way, the fuel load can be kept to a minimum for the t/o from BOM, with the filling for the long sector being done in AMD. Unless there is some other problem that prevents AMD from being the first iternational port for entry/exit. The problem for AMD being main entry/exit is that premium pax are in BOM and want the nonstop plus AI's connections are in BOM. So BOM has to to be main to make the flight compete against ME3. For AMD the flight is still very competitive and premium given people do not have to change planes (miss connections). Many people value that. Doesn't surprise me that AI is doing much better. US origin pax that are higher yielding want miles and not they get Star miles so its just a minor hit of flying AI instead of UA (miles and status wise). AI needs to start DEL-SFO once the FAA nonsense gets sorted out Back to top iah87 Member Joined: 17 Apr 2007 Posts: 2566 Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2014 7:03 pm    Post subject: The_Goat wrote: abhijith16 wrote: The problem is the performance of the aircraft. Apparently, the billboard is so high that AI has to reduce load (PAX+CARGO+FUEL) in order to allow for it to take off safely. Whereas, the A380 is being deployed to places which does not require a lot of fuel (i.e - DXB/SIN/FRA), hence can clear the safe height easily. That problem can be easily fixed by routing the aircraft BOM-AMD-EWR. This way, the fuel load can be kept to a minimum for the t/o from BOM, with the filling for the long sector being done in AMD. Unless there is some other problem that prevents AMD from being the first iternational port for entry/exit. The flight is advertised as a nonstop to/from EWR - BOM and they get more premium passengers, if it is a nonstop. AMD does not have any other flights to USA, so the one stop will be sufficient. The only solution is to lower the bill boards, which I am surprised that it has not been done yet. Back to top luvleen Member Joined: 02 Jul 2012 Posts: 179 Location: Bombay Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2014 4:51 am    Post subject: Quote: Air India today diverted its New York-Delhi flight to Toronto to bring home over 250 passengers of Chicago-Delhi flight who were stranded in the Canadian city after a suspected oil leakage in its engine led the Boeing 777 to make an emergency landing there Sorry it may sound ignorant but if NY-DEL flight was diverted to Toronto to pick up 250 passengers, does this mean that the NY-DEL sector was flying relatively empty? If yes, then this is a bad sign for AI as they seem to be making money on Chicago_Delhi sector but losing heaps on NY-DEL Back to top sumantra Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2014 6:04 am    Post subject: luvleen wrote: Sorry it may sound ignorant but if NY-DEL flight was diverted to Toronto to pick up 250 passengers, does this mean that the NY-DEL sector was flying relatively empty? If yes, then this is a bad sign for AI as they seem to be making money on Chicago_Delhi sector but losing heaps on NY-DEL From the little that I know, the New York flight has not been much of a money earner for AI, with mixed loads. The BOM-JFK flights were stopped after they bled the airline badly, that too on the B77Ls, without enough premium loads in front of the plane. The AI 101/102 combination does BOM-DEL-JFK and vice versa. Prior to the Star membership, AI never got good premium loads (owing to its dark past and bad prior reputation), though the Y loads have been mixed. I guess AI is continuing with it, being a prestige route, keeping its precious legacy JFK slot (from the JRD days of glory), and hoping that the new Star membership will get members to fly AI. The cargo loads have possibly been mixed, as well. EWR on the other hand, has been a runway away success for AI even in its dark days, but is clouded now-a-days owing to the unfortunate billboard issue. Generic patronage of AI has seen an increase, with *A members flying AI now:at least, that is what I have seen on the ground, primarily at DEL, and some other places, as well. Cheers, Sumantra. Back to top 747-237 Member Joined: 11 Jun 2007 Posts: 11351 Location: Gordon Gekko's Boardroom Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2014 7:37 am    Post subject: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/AI-to-review-domestic-fleet-needs-as-growth-slows/articleshow/42067469.cms AI to review domestic fleet needs as growth slows Sep 9, 2014 The launch of new airlines and a lower-than-expected growth in domestic air travel has led Air India to review its proposed fleet size for narrow body planes used mainly for flying within the country. The turnaround plan (TAP) approved for AI two years back by UPA-II had projected domestic traffic growth at 15% to 18%, based on which it estimated that AI (domestic, or erstwhile Indian Airlines) should have 72 Airbus A-320s in its fleet by 2016. In reality, however, domestic traffic has been growing by 4% to 4.5%. Also, a number of new domestic airlines - including two by the redoubtable Tata Group - are taking wings. As a result, AI board has set up a panel to review (read downsize) its Airbus A-320 fleet size. "Traffic has been growing at much slower pace than anticipated by the TAP. It is only right to review the projected fleet size of AI (domestic) as our financial restructuring plan - which estimates our revenue growth and hence the timeframe drawn up for us to first cut losses and then become profitable - was based on the high fleet size projected in the TAP," said a senior AI official. The move is very significant for AI as its entire turnaround strategy - that the airline is supposed to get equity infusion of Rs 30,000 crore by 2020 (more than half of which has already been given) - was based on the projected fleet size. Any downsizing of fleet size, as is expected, would lead to a reduction in expected revenue. This could push the time by when the airline expects to break even and then ultimately turn profitable. In April 2012, UPA-II had approved AI's TAP and financial restructuring plan, which was prepared in consultation with SBI Caps. AI currently has 58 A-320s in its fleet, of which 52 are in service. When the TAP was drawn up AI had 63 Airbus in its fleet but some have been phased out since then. The fleet plan was twin-fold: Replace IA's 14 1989-era A-320s with new planes and take A-20s more on lease. "We have found five replacements for the old generation planes, which should join our fleet by November from a Chinese leasing firm. That leaves with finding replacements for nine more of 14 old A-320s. The panel will study if we need to replace them or just phase them out. Also, it will examine if apart from the replacements does AI need to take nine more A-320s and whether they should be the existing ones or the soon-to-launched new engine options," said the official. The first batch of Airbus A-320s had started joining erstwhile Indian Airlines in July 1989. After that, IA got new planes only when it placed orders for 43 A-320s worth $2.2 billion in 2006 along with AI's order for 68 Boeing aircraft - 50 wide body for AI and 18 narrow body B-737s for AI Express. _________________ 11000 posts (and counting) on Airliners-India. Back to top ameya Member Joined: 09 May 2007 Posts: 3671 Location: Pune,Maharashtra Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2014 7:41 am    Post subject: That plan has anyways gone for a toss. It had clearly mentioned that AI should not launch Australia routes, it will not make money year round even with fuel efficient planes. _________________ www.networkthoughts.com Back to top Caliguy Member Joined: 14 Nov 2007 Posts: 723 Location: Los Angeles Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2014 6:43 pm    Post subject: sumantra wrote: luvleen wrote: Sorry it may sound ignorant but if NY-DEL flight was diverted to Toronto to pick up 250 passengers, does this mean that the NY-DEL sector was flying relatively empty? If yes, then this is a bad sign for AI as they seem to be making money on Chicago_Delhi sector but losing heaps on NY-DEL From the little that I know, the New York flight has not been much of a money earner for AI, with mixed loads. The BOM-JFK flights were stopped after they bled the airline badly, that too on the B77Ls, without enough premium loads in front of the plane. The AI 101/102 combination does BOM-DEL-JFK and vice versa. Prior to the Star membership, AI never got good premium loads (owing to its dark past and bad prior reputation), though the Y loads have been mixed. I guess AI is continuing with it, being a prestige route, keeping its precious legacy JFK slot (from the JRD days of glory), and hoping that the new Star membership will get members to fly AI. The cargo loads have possibly been mixed, as well. EWR on the other hand, has been a runway away success for AI even in its dark days, but is clouded now-a-days owing to the unfortunate billboard issue. Generic patronage of AI has seen an increase, with *A members flying AI now:at least, that is what I have seen on the ground, primarily at DEL, and some other places, as well. Cheers, Sumantra. Fundamentally the Indian population has shifted from around JFK to around EWR. That said I actually think AI is doing the right thing given its govt owned. Both BOM and DEL need to be connected nonstop to NY (from a business perspective which means access to manhattan which both airports give). Would the DEL flight do better in EWR - yes absolutely. But then JFK would have no nonstop access to India. If you had to divide the flights EWR is more BOM centric and JFK is no hugely slanted to the DEL crowd (punjabis). The issue for the flight is that richer indians that can buy J class seats are not the punjabis who live in Queens and Long Island. So the EWR flight could sell discounted J to upper middle class Jersey indians and get by. The jfk flight struggles. With Star I think things should change as the richer indians that avoided AI because of miles, now can buy a ticket. Remember the Indians that can buy J are typically 60+ and they don't mind AI nor are in a super rush to India paying $3500 for J instead of $10k on Delta or UA is the game changer. Back to top iah87 Member Joined: 17 Apr 2007 Posts: 2566 Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2014 8:31 pm    Post subject: May be another reason why EWR does well for AI, UA and Jet is that there is no ME3 competition at EWR. While a few may travel to JFK for the lower fares from N and Central Jersey, it has to be significantly lower than the fares at EWR. Back to top The_Goat Member Joined: 03 Mar 2007 Posts: 3260 Location: South of France Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2014 8:54 pm    Post subject: Maybe AI must re-introduce its classic BOM/DEL-LHR-JFK routing. They can pick up premium crowd from LHR, now that they are a part of Star. _________________ I don't know which is the more pampered bunch : AI's widebodies (the aunties) or Jet's widebodies (the planes). -Jasepl Back to top sumantra Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2014 11:02 pm    Post subject: The_Goat wrote: Maybe AI must re-introduce its classic BOM/DEL-LHR-JFK routing. They can pick up premium crowd from LHR, now that they are a part of Star. Sir, AI may still have the 5th freedom rights, but in my personal opinion, AI should continue with the current arrangement. AI's post-JRD shoddy reputation will take some time to cleanse, and as reported on this forum, AI needs to revamp some of its premium offerings to make it more attractive to the premium crowd, all of which will possibly take time. Till then, I guess AI would like to enhance their presence at JFK with the *A crowd. Cheers, Sumantra. Back to top Aseem Member Joined: 15 Dec 2006 Posts: 2841 Location: YYZ Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2014 11:17 pm    Post subject: Air India Boeing 777-337/ER | VT-ALM | "Himachal Pradesh" | AOG at YYZ Air India Boeing 777-337/ER | VT-ALM | &quot;Himachal Pradesh&quot; | AOG at YYZ by Lord of the Wings©, on Flickr VT-ASJ _________________ [url=http://openflights.org/user/aseemsjohri] [/url] Back to top Jaysit Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 4346 Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2014 3:32 am    Post subject: luvleen wrote: Quote: Air India today diverted its New York-Delhi flight to Toronto to bring home over 250 passengers of Chicago-Delhi flight who were stranded in the Canadian city after a suspected oil leakage in its engine led the Boeing 777 to make an emergency landing there Sorry it may sound ignorant but if NY-DEL flight was diverted to Toronto to pick up 250 passengers, does this mean that the NY-DEL sector was flying relatively empty? If yes, then this is a bad sign for AI as they seem to be making money on Chicago_Delhi sector but losing heaps on NY-DEL To me it sounds like the Indian press doing more shoddy reporting. Back to top 747-237 Member Joined: 11 Jun 2007 Posts: 11351 Location: Gordon Gekko's Boardroom Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2014 9:02 am    Post subject: Sumantra's favorite IC pilot is in the news again: IC 814 captain, 24 others take AI to HC over pay disparity http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/IC-814-captain-24-others-take-AI-to-HC-over-pay-disparity/articleshow/42232253.cms _________________ 11000 posts (and counting) on Airliners-India. Back to top sumantra Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2014 9:56 am    Post subject: 747-237 wrote: Sumantra's favorite IC pilot is in the news again Come on, he is not just Sumantra's idol, Capt Sharan is a national hero! Coming back to the topic, pay parity and a completely different pay structure, was one of the key points in the ill-advised and unfortunate `meger' of PM-AI and the erstwhile IC. Cheers, Sumantra. Back to top drpiru Member Joined: 07 Feb 2008 Posts: 156 Location: LBA Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2014 3:40 pm    Post subject: Trip to KNO, Indonesia with AI/MI/SQ via SIN I've the following flights coming up (All in one PNR): (GAU) to (DEL) - Air India 890 Dep: 5:20PM Arr: 7:55PM (DEL) to (SIN) - Air India 380 Dep: 11:30PM Arr: 7:20AM (SIN) to (KNO) - SilkAir 238 Dep: 7:00PM Arr: 7:20PM (KNO) to (SIN) - SilkAir 233 Dep: 8:40AM Arr: 11:05AM (SIN) to (CCU) - Air India 7262 Dep: 9:00PM Arr: 10:35PM (OPERATED BY SINGAPORE AIRLINES LIMITED) (CCU) to (GAU) - Air India 729 Dep: 9:50AM Arr: 10:55AM Will AI through checkin my luggage all the way to KNO from GAU? Indonesia has VoA-should I specially do/know/have anything about/for this? Have two 11 hrs layovers in Changi! Hope it will entertain me.. Back to top 747-237 Member Joined: 11 Jun 2007 Posts: 11351 Location: Gordon Gekko's Boardroom Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2014 8:27 pm    Post subject: http://www.airfinancejournal.com/article/3379220/Air-India-issues-engine-RFP.html Air India issues engine RFP 11 September 2014 Carrier seeking bids for six month lease of CFM56 engines. Air India has issued an RFP for five CFM56-5B6, 5B4, or 5B3 engines to power its A320 family aircraft. _________________ 11000 posts (and counting) on Airliners-India. Back to top 747-237 Member Joined: 11 Jun 2007 Posts: 11351 Location: Gordon Gekko's Boardroom Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2014 8:27 pm    Post subject: http://www.aninews.in/newsdetail2/story183155/praful-patel-forced-air-india-board-to-buy-40-extra-planes-says-former-cag.html Praful Patel forced Air India board to buy 40 extra planes, says former CAG Sep 11 Former Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) Vinod Rai has claimed that former Union Minister of Civil Aviation Praful Patel had pressurized the Air India board to buy an extra 40 planes. Rai said that Patel put pressure on the Air India board during his tenure at the Civil Aviation Ministry, which caused the flag carrier to purchase 68 planes instead of the 28 that it was originally to be bought. These extra planes, said Rai, were bought at a cost of Rs 38,000 crore. Rai also said that the Air India board is supposed to keep the books in balance and purchase only the minimal required and buying so many planes at such a great debt could have never been possible in a private airline. In an interview with Times Now, The former CAG further alleged that officials from the Aviation Ministry had put pressure on him to drop Patel's name from the report. Responding to these allegations, Patel said that the purchase of the extra aircrafts was a collective board decision and that there was no question of anybody from the board putting pressure on the then CAG . _________________ 11000 posts (and counting) on Airliners-India. Back to top ameya Member Joined: 09 May 2007 Posts: 3671 Location: Pune,Maharashtra Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2014 8:52 pm    Post subject: AI always needed these planes. But I still feel, they should have gone for the narrowbody order and A330s instead of the B777. That was too much of a capacity addition. A310 replacement was long over due and so was the domestic expansion. AI can have many more frequencies on domestic than what they have now _________________ www.networkthoughts.com Back to top Spiderguy252 Member Joined: 10 Aug 2007 Posts: 4259 Location: Indian Ocean Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2014 9:43 pm    Post subject: How would that 68-aircraft order ever have been downscaled to 40 less, keeping in mind AIX's requirement as well? Maybe getting rid of all the 77Ls and 77Ws would have been prudent in hindsight, but the figure is still over 40 then with 27 787s and 18 738s. _________________ Yeah. Back to top Caliguy Member Joined: 14 Nov 2007 Posts: 723 Location: Los Angeles Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2014 10:06 pm    Post subject: ameya wrote: AI always needed these planes. But I still feel, they should have gone for the narrowbody order and A330s instead of the B777. That was too much of a capacity addition. A310 replacement was long over due and so was the domestic expansion. AI can have many more frequencies on domestic than what they have now I disagree under a very specific lens - I think AI's and Jet's orders for 77W did make sense given the growth in Indian aviation. What both airline's fleet planning did not take into account is how much the GOI will open up to the ME3. Specifically they never thought the GOI would allow the ME3 to increase capacity by so much and so quickly as to destabilize the Indian market. The ME3 clearly had a plan and it worked. The original premise of domestic being really cheap flights subsidized by more expensive (and profitable) international flights, was and still is a good strategy. The biggest price sensitivity comes from Indian origin traffic. If some of them thought a flight to DXB or SIN was too expensive when compared to Goa and then changed their vacation to Goa then that would be a win for India. The whole aviation policy is so misplaced with lost jobs and economic growth with a give away to countries that do very little for india. Shameful if you ask me. Here's hoping Modi will take a more holistic view of balancing access and cheap flights with jobs for indians and domestic economic growth Back to top 747-237 Member Joined: 11 Jun 2007 Posts: 11351 Location: Gordon Gekko's Boardroom Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2014 9:13 pm    Post subject: Air India is looking to charter wide bodied aircraft with seating capacity of 240 seats in all economy configuration for Hajj 2014. http://mmd.airindia.co.in/aimmd/tender/HAJ%202014%20TENDER%20-%20Phase%20II.doc _________________ 11000 posts (and counting) on Airliners-India. Back to top The_Goat Member Joined: 03 Mar 2007 Posts: 3260 Location: South of France Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2014 10:13 pm    Post subject: Caliguy wrote: What both airline's fleet planning did not take into account is how much the GOI will open up to the ME3. What both airline's fleet planning did not take into account is where they would fly all those aircraft to. AI has never had more than 20 aircraft at any given time in its history (I am talking about AI alone, not AI+IC). To suddenly place an order for 8 77Ls, 15 77Ws and 27 787s with no planned expansion of routes is bizarre, to say the least. But what is bizarre, when bribes and kickbacks can achieve the impossible. Caliguy wrote: Specifically they never thought the GOI would allow the ME3 to increase capacity by so much and so quickly as to destabilize the Indian market. The ME3 clearly had a plan and it worked. IIRC, The ME3, specifically EK, was well entrenched in India even before those AI orders happened. Caliguy wrote: Here's hoping Modi will take a more holistic view of balancing access and cheap flights with jobs for indians and domestic economic growth I am starting to feel that Modi is the most cautious PM India has ever had. Someone should remind him that the people of India have given his party an absolute majority so that they can form a government that will take some tough decisions, and not pander to all and sundry in the name of building consensus. _________________ I don't know which is the more pampered bunch : AI's widebodies (the aunties) or Jet's widebodies (the planes). -Jasepl Back to top Spiderguy252 Member Joined: 10 Aug 2007 Posts: 4259 Location: Indian Ocean Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2014 11:28 pm    Post subject: The_Goat wrote: I am starting to feel that Modi is the most cautious PM India has ever had. Why do you think so? _________________ Yeah. Back to top 747-237 Member Joined: 11 Jun 2007 Posts: 11351 Location: Gordon Gekko's Boardroom Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2014 5:28 am    Post subject: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2754054/Steward-theres-grub-grub-Air-India-passenger-complains-finding-WORM-upper-economy-class-lunch.html Air India passenger complains after he eats half a WORM in upper economy class lunch _________________ 11000 posts (and counting) on Airliners-India. 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