Airliners-India.com

karatecatman · Guest

Posting this in its entirety as it was sent as an article by email:

Air India introduces new Regional Manager
Tuesday, 04.03.2007, 10:28pm (GMT-7)

BEVERLY HILLS: "Despite the hiccups our business has grown," said Anil Mathur, Air India's new Regional Manager for US and Canada, at a welcoming gathering in Gaylord's Restaurant last Thursday. Mathur referred to rising fuel costs and a temporary elimination of direct flights to India from LA as part of the airline's challenges this year.

Yet in spite of these setbacks he proudly shared that his staff and supportive travel agencies really "delivered the goods." Those "goods" included impressive ticket bookings on Air India and a new merger of India's domestic carrier Indian Airlines with Air India making its 200 aircraft fleet the largest in South Asia.

Mathur said he anticipated resumption of flights to India from LAX in the near future but boasted Air India's purchase of 68 aircraft from Boeing to the tune of 11 billion dollars, which will include the latest Boeing 777's for 14 hour non-stop flights to Mumbai from New York's JFK.

"The Indian market is growing by six percent a year and the Indian population is growing by six percent a year in America which makes the Indian market the fastest growing in the US," said Mathur who added that Continental, Delta, and American Airlines are all offering non-stop flights to India because of the growing market.

Mathur emphasized that Air India will be offering non-stop flights to India, seven days a week, starting in June and he stated that San Francisco would also begin service to India in the near future. "We've just celebrated 45 years of service in the US and 75 years of service in India, so we're going to see some very exciting times ahead," he said encouraging the travel and booking agents present to assist in Air India's rising growth as a major carrier of passengers in the world. Lalit Kapur, Air India Manager of West Coast had grand praise for Mathur's experience with the airline.

"Mathur is a known as an 'all rounder' having worked in many areas of the aviation industry,'" said Kapur. "Mathur has been with Air India for 31 years where he served Air India all over the globe including in locations such as Nairobi, London, and Tokyo." Several awards were giving to travel agencies booking over a million dollars in sales for Air India, with some bringing in as high as three million in ticket revenues.

Mathur sincerely thanked the agents and staff for their remarkable support with the airline even during some of Air India's negative publicity in early January of last year, when Air India Flight 136 en route to Frankfurt had to make an emergency landing at LAX after losing a tire on takeoff on December 20, 2005. "You're still behind us and we appreciate that," said Mathur. "In the last three months the schedule has settled down.

New York has asked that we don't do six flights a day but rather three flights a day to India, so that's where we're at right now. But Air India is going to have some of the newest aircraft of any airliner in the world in the months ahead so we promise great things for the traveler using Air India."

karatecatman · Guest

http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=229842

Pune-Dubai AIX flight to halt in M’bai

Express News Service

Pune, April 3: Due to the severe heat wave conditions in Pune, Air India Express (AI Express) flights from Pune to Dubai from April are making an additional halt at Mumbai and will continue till June 15. This exercise is being carried out by AI Express to minimise the risk posed by heat conditions besides optimising its operations.

karatecatman · Guest

AI-Indian staffs to get Esops
SUNNY VERMA

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Transportation/Airlines__Aviation/AI-Indian_staffs_to_get_Esops/articleshow/1853191.cms

AI-Indian staffs to get Esops
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ WEDNESDAY, APRIL 04, 2007 01:15:29 AM]

NEW DELHI: The Air India-Indian merger, touted as the biggest wedding in the Indian skies, may bring a windfall to over 32,000 employees of the two companies. Post-merger, the government is planning to hand out employee stock options (Esops) to their staff.

To be called National Aviation Company, the merged entity boasts of 7.32 crore shares and a paid-up capital of Rs 73.25 crore, a government source said. The number of shares has been arrived at after assuming a swap ratio of 8:1, which means eight shares of the merging companies equal one share of the new entity.

777-237LR · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 140

New colours for VT-ALC?

Air India's 3rd 777-200LR which was unpainted all these days, is now wearing
the cream colour on its fuselage. The rest of the aircraft remains unfinished.

The engines are red but the tail is unfinished and there are no titles. Looks like it will be getting the new cs of the merged airlines.

View the aircraft :

http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=363059669&size=o

Aseem · Member Joined: 15 Dec 2006 Posts: 2841 Location: YYZ

777-237LR · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 140

The photo has changed and now you get a closer view of VT-ALC

http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=363059669&size=o

Jaysit · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 4346

Wow. Just when you thought Air India and the GOI couldn't get any more pathetic, they defy expectations and take it to the next level.

I guess Air India and certain insane individuals with a weird anti-Boeing/Naresh Goyal/AI fetish can call for AI to order Airbus A340-300s for those all too important North American routes.

Or even better still, I hear that Emirates is about to dump an old A310. AI must be ecstatic.

HAWK21M · Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2007 10:48 am Post subject:

[quote="Jaysit"]Wow. Just when you thought Air India and the GOI couldn't get any more pathetic, they defy expectations and take it to the next level.

quote]
Jay....Pls elaborate.

regds
MEL
_________________
Think of the Brighter side !!!

karatecatman · Guest

All airlines with an order for the 787 have been asked to get ready to send a cabin crew member to be present at the launch ceremony of the 787 later this year.

So our own Air India will be there.
There is to be a photo op and a dinner. (just like when the 747 was launched.

Himmat-ji posted that picture here (of all the cabin crew of the airlines who had ordered the 747 and the Air India air hostess was fifth from the left) some time ago.

adhithya · Member Joined: 11 Jan 2007 Posts: 23

i had saved it here it is....

adhithya · Member Joined: 11 Jan 2007 Posts: 23

Hopefully Air India atleast gets its new cabin uniforms ready by then....and sure 9W will have its cabin crew in their new yellow uniforms

aarbee · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 328 Location: WAS/AMD

justbala · Member Joined: 11 Jan 2007 Posts: 1898 Location: Bangalore

karatecatman · Guest

karatecatman · Guest

http://tinyurl.com/2qbrll
National carrier to begin all cargo operations from June

Quotes:
One of Air India's A-310 aircraft sent to Germany for conversion into all cargo configurations four months ago has been delivered in Dresden on Tuesday. The freighter is scheduled to arrive in Mumbai on Wednesday.

This is the first time in the 75 years history of Air India that any of its aircraft have been converted to begin cargo operations.

Global leaders in military transport and freighter aircraft, European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) NV, Germany has converted this 16 year-old passenger aircraft, one of the youngest in the A-310 fleet. One more A-310 aircraft currently undergoing conversion at EADS is scheduled to arrive in the next few weeks.

Air India has decided to deploy this freighter in the Kerala-Gulf sector due to increasing demand from importers and exporters. From June onwards full-fledged cargo operations will begin. In three years the airline is planning to have a dedicated fleet of 10 to 12 cargo aircrafts, a separate profit centre of the yet to be merged entity.

Air India will be sending the rest six A-310 aircraft in its fleet for conversion into freighters in a phased manner.

Once the newly ordered Boeing aircraft join into passenger operations, Air India will convert its two Boeing 747-300 combi aircraft into freighters to satisfy the European market.

Air India has been waiting to make amends in Kerala. Ever since AIX 's 737s have virtually replaced the A310s on the Kerala-Gulf sector, exporters there have been crying foul at the loss of belly space. Air India has also acknowledged that it has been losing valuable revenue. Hopefully things will be nice for Air India now.

COUGAR · Member Joined: 01 Jan 2007 Posts: 986 Location: Bangalore

I wonder if there is a chance to retain the 2 AB3 currently flying with IC.

These could be converted tofreighters an dwith proper maintenance could fly fo rnaother 10 years!

I am slightly senti about EHC and EHD!
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tayaramecanici · Member Joined: 03 Jan 2007 Posts: 648

HAWK21M · Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 12:44 pm Post subject:

A300s are good Freighters but lousy in Mx friendliness.
regds
MEL
_________________
Think of the Brighter side !!!

karatecatman · Guest

The name, brand and the names of at least three top officials of the new airline, created by the merger of Air India and Indian, would be finalised by June this year, says a UNI report.
A new company has been registered and the scheme for amalgamation, now under preparation, will have to be approved by the Boards of the two airlines. All the legal formalities to be completed by June,says the report, quoting Air India Chairman and Managing Director V Thulasidass.
The location of the corporate headquarters of the new airline along with the names of its top brass, three top-most officials, the name, the brand and the mascot would also be decided by then.
Both airlines have already started working toward integrating their domestic and international flight schedules, including the regional routes serviced by the Indian, he said. A fully integrated schedule would be worked out for the Winter Schedule starting October.
The IPO is to be after the merger was is completed and the two airlines fully integrated.
Besides using the money raised for acquiring fleet, the IPO is aimed at making the new company a business venture and make it accountable to the investing public.

Thulasidass was talking at the US-India Aviation Partnership Summit in Delhi when he said this , says the report.
The 68 Boeing and 43 Airbus aircraft by AI/IA respectively, as well as their subsidiaries, will make it a large airline. In world rankings, AI is now placed at 48 and Indian 67 position. After the merger, it will be 31, says the report.
Talks are also on with various global airline alliances and the merged entity would ‘‘shortly’’ take a decision to join one of them, Thulasidass said. Of the three global alliances, Star Alliance is one of the most preferable having the widest network and highest number of airlines.
On the Air India-Boeing Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility in India, he said the terms and conditions are now been negotiated.
The MRO will cater to all types of Boeing aircraft and the facility would be extended to any airline in India or in the region which wanted to service its aircraft.

karatecatman · Guest

Thulasi has made an additional statement:
On a question on the proposed US flights, he has said that though the dates have not yet been firmed up, AI expects to launch non-stop Mumbai-New York flights in June and a flight from Delhi later’.
AI wants to start daily services, which will require three long haul aircraft. "We will get one Boeing 777-200 (Long Range) in June. With two aircraft we can start three flights each week’’, he said, says the UNI report. So this should finally rest the rumours about teh 777LRs. Exclamation

Replying to questions on ‘‘frequent’’ engineering problems with Air India aircraft, he said AI has an ageing fleet as it had not acquired fleet for a long time. The last acquisition by AI was in 1996 when six planes were bought, he said, adding that is wholly-owned subsidiary Air India Express was now operating six brand new Boeing 737-800s without any hitch.
Observing that the ‘‘only’’ hitch was when the nosewheel of its A310 had collapsed, he said there have been ‘‘no major accidents for a long time’’ and added it was ‘‘grossly unfair’’ to say that the highly qualified engineering team would not maintain an aircraft properly due to pending wage negotiations.
Good good progress has been made on their wage negotiations, while wages have been hiked for almost 80 per cent of the AI workforce in other fields, he has said.

COUGAR · Member Joined: 01 Jan 2007 Posts: 986 Location: Bangalore

Mr.Thulasidas has a history of consistently over-promising and under-delivering.

The question is not if he is going to run the (now 2) airlines into the ground, but when.
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aarbee · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 328 Location: WAS/AMD

Jaysit · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 4346

sri_bom · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 2365 Location: Singapore

Air India confirmed that the name, brand and appointment of some of the top officials of the new airline, created by the merger of Air India and Indian, would be finalised by Jun-07 (Press Trust of India, 25-Apr-07).

Air India: "A new company has been registered and the scheme for amalgamation, now under preparation, will have to be approved by the Boards of the two airlines. I expect all the legal formalities to be completed by Jun-07…A fully integrated schedule would be worked out for the Winter Schedule starting Oct-07," V Thulasidas, Chairman and Managing Director. Source: Press Trust of India, 25-Apr-07.

Sri_Bom

karatecatman · Guest

POSTING THIS ARTICLE IN FULL AS ARTICLES in the Statesman are archived after a day and url becomes unavailable.

[url]
http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=2&theme=&usrsess=1&id=154648[/url]

A-I to train pilot recruits abroad

Sanjay Singh
NEW DELHI, April 25: Over 700 young science graduates will undergo commercial pilot licence training at premier flying schools abroad over the next seven years. Air-India is in the process of recruiting 100 fresh graduates this year ~ the process would continue for seven consecutive years ~ to meet the pilot shortage it would face when 68 brand new Boeing aircraft are inducted by 2011 in a phased manner.
A-I would spend over 140 crore ~ Rs 20 lakh per candidate ~ to send these recruits for courses at four premier flying schools based in the US and two European nations. “After successful completion of the flying course, these qualified pilots would have to sign a bond for 10 years failing which Air India would recover all the dues from them…” the executive director of Air-India, Mr S Venkat, told The Statesman.
According to Mr Venkat, Air-India has conducted a written examination across the country and the selection process would be completed in a month or two. The 100 selected candidates would be send abroad for training from July. Such an initiative has not come from private airlines, who prefer to hire foreign pilots who generally demand at least Rs 3 to 5 lakh per month, double what Indian pilots are paid.
On the other hand, the Indian Air Force has agreed to release senior and experienced pilots to the civil aviation stream in a phased manner. Air Chief Marshal F H Major early this month announced that IAF would release 15 to 20 pilots at regular intervals to join the civil flying stream.
The government is also planning to set up a National Flying Training Institute at Gondia, Maharashtra. But till now, only a token provision of Rs 100 crore has been made in 2005-06. A detailed project report is being drafted.
Of the 68 Boeing aircraft bought at an estimated cost of Rs 33,000 crore, six Boeing 737-800 aircraft would join the A-I fleet by the end of July. The government already has plans to merge the two national airlines, Air-India and Indian Airlines into a single entity, which according to Mr Venkat would work out sometime around July.
The total number of additional aircraft for private and national carriers in the next five years is estimated at 500 for which an additional 5,000 pilots would be required. “Currently, 2,940 pilots are employed as against the requirement of 3,160 pilots, leaving a shortfall of around seven per cent. Within the next five years the industry will need 4,500 more,” said an A-I official.
As of now, A-I faces a shortfall of 118 pilots. Other carriers in India also do not have enough pilots. In ten years, there will be a crisis. There are more than 25 flying clubs in India, but only one pilot training academy of international standard, Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Academy in Rae Bareli. It churns out about 40 commercial pilot licence holders every year.

karatecatman · Guest

FLYING IN THE FACE OF HARDSHIP
ABHIJIT BHATTACHARYYA

What could be the story behind the front-page photograph on April 10, showing an Air India Airbus-310-300 in a tilted ‘attitude’ (that is, posture) on the runway of Delhi airport? From the picture, it was clear that the photograph of the distressed aircraft was taken from within the Indira Gandhi International Airport, and obviously from an area where photography is supposed to be strictly prohibited under the law of the land. Then why, when and how was the AI-349 photograph taken? Why has no action been taken against the photographer, if the image has been captured illegally?

All the hullabaloo over the so-called ‘faulty’ landing of the Airbus-310-300 could also be part of a sustained hate-Air-India campaign. For almost 15 years, one has been hearing repeated, but often unsubstantiated, criticism of the national carrier. Right or wrong, good or bad, the smear campaign has been going on ever since private players appeared on the aviation horizon of India.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070426/asp/opinion/story_7696052.asp

karatecatman · Guest

Air India sets up internal panel --- to look at more aircraft purchase
Our Bureau

Study on need for more aircraft

New Delhi April 25 Air India has set up an internal committee to study whether the airline should look at purchasing more aircraft, the airline Chairman and Managing Director, Mr V. Thulasidas said on Wednesday.

"The committee will examine if there is need for acquiring more passenger and cargo aircraft as the market is growing rapidly. We do not want a repeat of the past when we did not get aircraft for several years or see the airline slide into anymore problems," Mr Thulasidas said on the sidelines of the India-US Aviation Summit.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/04/26/stories/2007042603771200.htm

karatecatman · Guest

AI seals pact with Malaysian Airlines for London slots

Ashwini Phadnis
New Delhi April 25 Air India has concluded negotiations with Malaysian Airlines for six additional landing slots at London's Heathrow airport.

Air India will not be paying any monies to Malaysian Airlines for the slots, the airline Chairman and Managing Director, Mr V. Thulasidas, told Business Line.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2007/04/26/stories/2007042603781200.htm

Air India may also be gettng additional slots and may start negotiations with some of the East European airlines.

karatecatman · Guest

Gossip at Nariman Point is that these new slots (from Malaysia) may be considered for
Ex-South India-London flights.

karatecatman · Guest

Air India CMD V Thulasidass is likely to head the new entity created out of the merger of his airline and the Indian, says a UNI report.
The Civil Aviation Ministry is understood to have cleared his name for being appointed to the top post in the new merged entity.
Official sources said that Ministry proposal would now go to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet for its final approval.
Thulasidass would hold the post for one year till his superannuation, following which his successor would be chosen by the Public Enterprises Selection Board, the sources said, says the report.

COUGAR · Member Joined: 01 Jan 2007 Posts: 986 Location: Bangalore

The Telegraph article was obviosuly written by a AI fan pining for those good old days when flights would be delayed for days together and passengers had to put up with shoddy service and a poor attitude.

Things have changed, due to competiotion, passengers now have a choice. Arlines have had to change and so have people. Air India however is one airline that refuses to change and still lives in past glory which is simply non-existent: a case of the emperor/maharaja without any clothes!

As for thulasidas: I am not surprised that toady's name is being considered for the top-job in the new merged airline. Thulasidas has risen so far in his career by playing chamcha to various ministers/governors and in his current role is playing a similar role as Pee Pees [edited by Nimish to remove anatomical references] !He is doing a fantastic job of mismanaging at AI and can be relied upon to continue doing so in the new merged entity as well: thus helping the airline owned by Pee Pee's deaerest freinds.

Off topic: the gossip mills are churning about Pee Pee's daughter's proposed engagement to the son of an airline tycoon. Very Happy

Watch this space guys! This is getting more and more interesting!
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karatecatman · Guest

About the pilot cadets, don;t know where Air India is manufacturing the figures from.

Out of the 430 candidates who wrote the test, only 42 seem to have made it finally.

So where does the 100 come from? Or even 700 that Venkat is talking about?

Nimish · Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 2:45 pm Post subject:

Nimish · Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 2:49 pm Post subject:

karatecatman · Guest

News on the new fleet panel:

Air India is looking at more 777LRs. As each city in the US will need a pair of aircraft, AI is looking at "dedicated" LRs for each city. AI now wants to add Washington and Houston now to existing US services.

AI is looking at upto 16 or 18 LRs which means it might be 8 (existing order)+8/10 more now.

AI is supposed to be planning point-to-point services from all over India, which it believes is the way to outwit Jet Airways.

The cities that will get LR services are:
New York from Delhi and Mumbai;
Mumbai-Chicago and
San Francisco from a Metro (could be either Mumbai or Delhi or from the South).

Air India is also actively considering the A380, which is why Airbus may also have hinted quite strongly a few days ago at new orders possibly from SE Asia.

On the uniform front, Ritu Beri may be given the go-ahead soon. Her brief is to come up with a striking, fresh and contemporary look for the sari and the churidhar kurta. Beri may use a lot of red and orange, it seems.
Western outfit is not favourable.

***
Vishwapathi Trivedi is also likely to be deputy to Thulasi in the merged outfit. Will be No. 2 in the new company National Aviation Company (Air India+Indian).

Nimish · Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 5:54 pm Post subject:

karatecatman · Guest

Air India, Indian begin to revalue their assets

http://www.livemint.com/2007/04/27001136/Air-India-Indian-begin-to-rev.html

Jaysit · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 4346

That article in the Telegraph has to be the worst piece of "journalism" ever written. Did Debasis Bhattacharya once have a job as PR Manager of Aeroflot during the Brezhnev era? I know that Kolkata still has these rag tag Communist jholewallas hanging around, but who knew they still had access to the editorial pages of a major newspaper?

Compared to this, a few private operators with dubious background, with an equally dubious source of finance, expanded at breakneck speed. While there is no dearth of pleaders for private players in Indian skies, these players have virtually no moral, social or public responsibility towards the people of India.

These private carriers (I'm sure that the term "private" is hated by this journalist) have been providing the people of India with great service, modern flights, cheap fares, on-time departures, all without burdening the already burdened Indian taxpayer. If that isn't moral, social and public responsibility, I don't know what is.

P.S.: Six days after the Air India photograph came out, a British Airways pilot delayed a Delhi-London flight by more than 16 hours and a Sahara flight kept its passengers waiting for full 48 hours

One random incident with BA can't compare with AI's abysmal record.

Right or wrong, good or bad, the smear campaign has been going on ever since private players appeared on the aviation horizon of India.

Obviously this man never had to wait for 19 hours at Bombay or Delhi while the 3 daily IC flights were delayed, overbooked, or held up because some Minister wanted to go shopping for his wife. The 1970s and '80s when no private carriers were around were full of such incidents.

Any crisis in Beirut or Baghdad, Tehran or Bahrain, Air India has to divert its fleet and cancel its (scheduled) flights to rescue the distraught and distressed people of Indian origin.

And cancel its flights to the horror of those thousands of Indian passengers who've paid for their tickets. The plight of Indians stuck in Baghdad, etc (btw, when has any crisis occurred in Bahrain????) can easily be addressed by having what the US currently has in place: standing contracts with airlines to free up one or more of their large aircraft for emergency services. When Americans are trapped somewhere, NW, AA, UA widebodies are pressed into service to evauate Americans. Or else, you have charter carriers like World Airways, etc., who are put into action. The GOI can do the same thing.

Thousands of Haj pilgrims from airports in all corners of India are carried to Mecca every year by Air India and Indian Airlines, which have to withdraw flights from their scheduled routes to do so.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't AI and IC get millions in subsidies from the GOI to operate these flights? I'm sure that any private carrier could do what the GOI does for far less. Charter an ex-KLM high density 743 seating 525 and fly it to Jeddah or Medina.

This whole article is full of sh*t.

karatecatman · Guest

Air India has just completed its mission as cultural ambassador.

The airline has flown the first batch of 150 boxes of Alphonso and Kesari mangoes to the US. This marks the end of the 18 year ban on Indian mangoes by the US.

But customers will have to wait for a few more days before they can buy them in the market as the fruit needs to be ripened before being released for sale.

The mango sale will be launched formally by the Indian Ambassador and White House officials at Washington DC on May 1.

Air India wil fly the next batch which will have Langra, Chausa, Mallika and Dussheri varieties.

The consignement was about 600 kg and from Gujarat and Maharashtra . It was irradiated in Lasalgaon

The US-India Business Council will be using some of the mangoes in its Indian Mango-Tasting festival at its 32nd anniversary in June.

The mangoes were loaded at Sahar in the presence of officials from US Consulate and APEDA and senior scientists of BARC.