Airliners-India.com

[karatecatman]

AI's new 777-200LR, affectionately to be called as Andhra!!! from now on!!! , has been to Cairns, Australia.

This is for reported engine performance testing.
The video Link is here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ6O5IFaQ4s

[D-ABTH]

what were they doing in Cairns?? im not familiar with Boeing taking every pre delivery aircraft for individual tests all the way across the world... was PIA's LRs subject to the same pre delivery routine?
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[karatecatman]

Cairns is supposed to have a very sophisticated system that includes statistical and acoustical computation software to undertake analysis of noise or flight track information.

The reports generated include tabular and graphical summaries of noise and aircraft movement data for each airport, aircraft movement statistics such as runway usage by the various categories of aircraft and movement profiles.

The system includes the capability to automatically analyse aircraft tracks by defining windows and corridors through which aircraft are expected to pass, and highlighting and listing those tracks that deviate from the defined areas or altitude. The analysis can be selective on either specification of aircraft type or the route being flown.

Part of this Boeing/Air India exercise may be to check the cockpit avionics as well.

But wonder why the GE-90 that Air India is using on the 777LR is being subject to all this testing now.


***

PIA's 777 went straight to Karachi. And thats' when after a few weeks of flying, PIA is supposed to have started to complain bitterly about the aircraft's "shortscomings", including range.

[Karan69]

KCM thanks for the info about Crains did not know that,

Also since this is the AI news thread i am making a repost of the following

Air India will get on wet lease one Airbus A310 -325 C/n 674
Reg OK-YAD ,wet-leased from 01mar07 in hybrid cs for one year.
Owned by Wilmington Trust Company, the aircraft was with Delta,
Air Jamica, Air Maldives,Khalifa and CSA Czech (as OK-YAD).

Well this time it seems confirmed.

Karan

[karatecatman]

The Maharaja to don a new attire

From the Economic Times
http://tinyurl.com/2su7ne

[VABBy]

[the_380]

[D-ABTH]

[HAWK21M]

Any details on the tests.
regds
MEL
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Think of the Brighter side !!!

[karatecatman]

http://inhome.rediff.com/money/2007/feb/17ai.htm]

Air India hunting for pilots overseas

P R Sanjai in Mumbai

February 17, 2007 01:38 IST
Air India, which is acquiring 68 Boeing aircraft for $11 billion, is on a major pilot-sourcing drive, as the state-run airline is enhancing existing services, apart from starting new ones.
The national flag carrier has already sourced 20 pilots from Belgrade-based Jat Airways Training Centre, and 18 more will join shortly.
Air India, which has a fleet of 48 aircraft, will require 100 pilots every year for the next seven years. According to S Venkat, executive director (finance), the airline will have a fleet size of 59 by the year-end.

"We have the largest fleet of 48 aircraft now, since inception. We have firmed up plans to enhance the services of our low-cost subsidiary, Air India Express, to 115 flights a week during summer against current 57 flights a week," Venkat said.

To meet the growing pilots requirements, Air India has shortlisted four international flight training institutes. Besides Jat Airways, the airline has shortlisted a US-based and a New Zealand-based training institutes to train fresh engineering graduates in twin-engine jets. "Air India is examining a possible tie-up with one of these schools to train Air India's fresh pilots," the sources added.

Recently, the PSU carrier had decided to recruit fresh graduates from the science and engineering disciplines in the wake of a severe shortage of pilots. The airline will sign a bond with these graduates, who will be trained at Air India's cost.

"Over 2,000 graduates appeared for the examination conducted by Air India for pilot-training," Air India executives said. Air India requires over 3,500 pilots in the next three years with domestic airlines acquiring more than 300 aircraft.

Industry analysts said Air India would have to scout for multiple avenues for sourcing pilots as the capacity of the state-run Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi has reached saturation.

"Initial pilot training for a fresh graduate will cost $35,000 to $40,000 per year in training institutes in the US. A tie-up with accredited training schools will ensure a training slot for Air India," they added.

Meanwhile, Air India is planning to start non-stop flights to the US and Air India Express will fly to Dubai and South-East Asia from Tiruchirapalli shortly.



Partly clears up the mystery behind the tie-up with Jat.

[Karan69]

Also in other news from the link provided it appears that the second Flyglobespan Charter 767-3ER is for AI as well, can anyone confirm this news.

http://www.ch-aviation.ch/aircraft.php?search=set&airline=FGL&al_op=1

Karan

[tayaramecanici]

[himmat01]

Air India's B777-337ERS will be registered as VT-ALJ/K/L..........
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Save Maharashtra!

[karatecatman]

Why ANDHRA was in Australia


http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2007/02/20/212144/boeing-powers-up-thrust-bump-testing-for-ge90.html


Boeing powers up thrust bump testing for GE90
By Guy Norris
Engine upgrade improves 777-200LR/300ER's take-off performance in hot conditions
Boeing undertook certification flight tests in Alice Springs, Australia earlier this month of a new "thrust bump" setting on the General Electric GE90-110/115 powerplant, using engines installed on an Air India 777-200LR.

The aircraft left Boeing's Everett site on 8 February for Australia after completing a successful functional check flight with the new engine data plugs for the new rating the previous day. It has since returned and is conducting tests at Everett.

GE says the thrust bump rating, which will be available for both the -110B1 on the -200LR and -115B1 on the 777-300ER, is a modification of the schedule settings in the full authority digital engine control (FADEC3).

The new schedule modifies available thrust at altitudes below 3,000ft (915m) and temperatures that are "well above 90e_SDgrF [32°C]" for better take-off performance from airfields at low altitudes, but with high temperatures. "With the schedule modification we will get up to 2.5% higher thrust at take-off without any hardware changes," says GE. The flat rating of the engine is not affected, although frequent use of the thrust bump setting is expected to eat into time-on-wing margins.

Boeing and GE first attempted to test the thrust bump setting, dubbed the -L1, on the GE90-115B at Yuma, Arizona in September 2005, but could not obtain the 42°C temperatures required for the tests. Other than Air India, potential customers for the rating option include Emirates.


Boeing has tested the new setting on an Air India 777-200LR

Flight has also shown Air India's new livery!!!! So much for AI being so stupidly secretive!!!

[Nimish]

Cool - thanks for that info KCM. Good to know that boeing is continuing to tweak the specs and get additional performance out of this new series of a/c!

[sri_bom]

Air India announced plans to increase capacity to Dubai this month, while Air India Express has reportedly received rights to operate to Bahrain – see Route Changes Tables for more information.

Airline Origin Destination Weekly Frequency Date Aircraft

Air India Bombay Dubai 7 14 26-Feb-07 B767-300

Source: CAPA

Sri_BOM

[vivekman]

Is AI planning to deploy the 767 on the BOM-DXB route??

[sri_bom]

YES

The 767-300 will be deployed on the Bombay-Dubai route.

Srinivas Rao

[Aiel]

Is it on wet lease? IS it the Globespan one?

Why do they get all these oddball aircraft (oddball in terms of not having commonality with the rest of their fleet)?
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[himmat01]

[karatecatman]

Air India is now trying to work out a lease with Air New Zealand for 2 or 3 767-300s.


And at the signing ceremony with GE, Air India has announced that by May 2007, AI is expected to start the Mumbai-New York direct flight. A direct flight between Delhi and New York is also in the pipeline.

The airline also has firm plans to launch five flights to Vancouver (Canada), San Francisco, Washington and Houston (Texas-US).

[the_380]

Why is AI desperately trying for 767s??? Why can't they try and hunt for 777s or 747s???
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[karatecatman]

Good question 380!!!!

****
Not again!!!

Anyway.
More news about about JINXED JUMBO Sunderbans (VT-AIM)

She was at Frankfurt this time and has made it into the German press ina huge way.

Was doing the return journey on Feb. 20 headed for Delhi after getting in from Los Angeles when:
A huge delay because of mechanical problems. Delay of 7 hours.

At pushback, the crew discover that a few pasegners from Los Angless are not on board. So aircraft gets back to the gate and luggage offloaded.
Delay of 21 hours in total.

More trouble. About 1 hour and 15 minutes after take-off, the crew again finds that two passengers are missing. Furious reaction in the cockpit. Ground staff insist that the passengers are there and crew radio back to say its nonsense.

Finally the crew decided that enough's enough and Sunderbans does a 180 degree back to Frankfurt. Cabi crew do a quick check agin and reconfirm their suspicions. About a 100 tons of fuel are dumped.

Currently a huge dispute between Air India and Frankfurt. AI wants Frankfurt to admit that its a computer error while Frankfurt says AI was lax.

Add to this the smog/fog in Delhi and a security lapse while checking in for Sunderbans.

Pics are at:

http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,19522,00.html


http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,PB64-SUQ9MTk1MjImbnI9Mg_3_3,00.html

http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,PB64-SUQ9MTk1MjImbnI9Mw_3_3,00.html


http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,PB64-SUQ9MTk1MjImbnI9NQ_3_3,00.html

[the_380]

21 hours delay!!! OMG thats insane
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[karatecatman]

Air-India’s plans to induct its new fleet of 777s and subsequent route expansion will be delayed. The delivery of the first aircraft will now be May.The first 777 which was to be inducted in April 2007 will now be in May 2007, according to Air India chairman and MD Thulasidas.
NDTV has quoted him as saying "There will be a two-month delay in the delivery of the aircraft.’’
As a result of the delay, the carrier will have to postpone plans to expand its overseas network, including some routes to the US.
He said AI's 11 billion dollar (Rs 30,000 crore) order of 68 planes is the biggest ever in India by value. It was also the largest order by value for Boeing worldwide in 2005.
On the financial performance of AI this fiscal, Thulasidas said it will be tough. Last year, the airline had posted a profit of Rs 15-16 crore.
He said the the financial performance has also gone down this year because of decrease in yield in some areas. ‘‘We have seen decrease in yield in some areas like London,’’ he said.
About the proposed merger of Air-India and Indian, he has said that the process is underway and there are certain aspects of the merger, which needs to be studied. ‘‘Aspects relating to integration of network and manpower, legal and financial issues like tax implications and stamp duty are being worked out.’’
Whether there will be any wage revision after the merger of the two airlines, he said: ‘‘There is a commitment that the merger will not result in remuneration losses. However, when the two entities come together, there has to be a parity in the wage structure.’’
He also said Air-India Express has introduced its sixth owned Boeing 737-800 aircraft, which will operate only economy class seats on the Gulf and Singapore routes. This acquisition increases the AI Express’ fleet size to 13 aircraft, seven of which are on lease.
The first three aircraft were introduced in December 2006 and January 2007. The fourth came in January 21 and the fifth on January 27.
He also said Air-India has signed an MoU with GE for the engines for its new fleet. The order is worth over 2.2 billion dollars. The order includes GE90-115B engines for the Boeing 777-300ERs and the GEnx engines for the Boeing 787-800 aircraft.
GE and AI will sport a new logo on the fleet that will show how eco-freindly AI is. GE and AI will also screen inflight films on the wildlife/eco theme, says NDTV.

Thulasidas also accepted felicitation on his election as the new President of the Aeronautical Society of India. The Society is a highly-acknowledged professional body of eminent scientists and engineers, dedicated to the growth of aerospace activities in India, an Air India release has said.

Thulasidas also commented on the latest figures on market share released for the domestci airlines of India where Jet is the leader, followed by Air Deccan at 22.6% and then Indian at 16.3%. Thulasidas said the droppoing market share of Indian was a bit worrying.

[himmat01]

Has AI specified any reason for this delay in induction?
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[AKLDELNonstop]

Might be because of the seats saga. OMG lack of professionalism.
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[karatecatman]

Main (official)reasons are the late delivery of seats!!! for Y.

But the others are IFE problems and flight crew scheduling/training.

[himmat01]

The a/c will be on ground for two months when they could flying and bringing in revenue. AI will never learn.
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Save Maharashtra!

[karatecatman]

From Feb to March to April to May!!!!!!

There must be a compensatory clause as it is turning out to be a messup on the part of the OM and vendors.

[karatecatman]

Air India is going to revamp its inflight magazines.

For Air India Express, the new product will be called NAMASKAAR EXPRESS and will be available in Hindi/English.
Will be published bi-monthly. Is aimed at an annual passenger audience of one million by end 2007. Magazine must have articles on tourism related subjects including destinations in India and abroad, personality sketches, etc.
Minimum 96 pages.

***
For NAMASKAAR on Air India it currently has the rubbish 16-page details of inflight entertainment. Air India now wants a separate brochure exclusively for the new Thales i5000 and i4000 IFE on its new 777s and 747-400s. This is to be for 32 pages.
Total number of pages i.e Namaskaar+IFE programme brochure= 112 pages and from August 2007 most probs. Has to be monthly as well.

[aarbee]

[Jaysit]

[himmat01]

[karatecatman]

There are more in Indonesia:
Garuda of course, which is looking to offload about 48% of its stake.
Jatayu Airlines
Kartika Airlines
Sempati Air Transport
and Sriwijayaaair (the livery seems to match that of Alliance Air or is it the other way around?)
http://www.sriwijayaair-online.com/

[777-237LR]

Air India has finalised wet lease of 3 767-300ER and one 757-200ER, according to their tender inviting bids for wet leasing aircraft. Does anybody know where these aircraft are coming from?
Check http://javascript:emoticon('')
Confusedmmd.airindia.co.in/aimmd/tender/EY_WET%20LEASE_06_028.html

[karatecatman]

767 are mostly from United or Auir New Zealand, while the 757 is from Turkey. (Probabaly linked to Turkish Airlines joining Star Alliance as a member alongwith Air India).

The details have still to be reconfirmed.

[karatecatman]

Trying to reconfirm another nasty item that ANDHRA will be in India only by May.

Hope it's not true.

[Karan69]

See the picture of the Euro Atlantic 767-300ER leased to AI:

http://www.skyliner-aviation.de/viewphoto.main?LC=nav2&picid=3543



The Boeing 767-3YO cn 26205, ln 474,reg CS-TLQ for Air India ferried 23/24feb07 SNN-LIS-BOM after paint into partial Air India cs for lease
ex LV-AIX

Karan

[the_380]

The colours look cute....lol
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