Air India Divestment

Air India transformation is Test match, not T20; more work to do: Campbell

Air India's transformation journey is a cricket Test match and not a T20, and currently, it is like lunch on the third day of a Test match, the airline's Chief Campbell Wilson said on Thursday. Tata Group-owned Air India has embarked on an ambitious five-year transformation plan 'Vihaan.AI' and little over two years of the programme has been completed. "I acknowledge that we are not ultimately where we aspire to be and we have some work to do... There is a reason why Vihaan.AI programme is for five years... We are little over two years... the first years have been a good start," Wilson, who was born in New Zealand and took over the reins of Air India in 2022, said. "It is a Test match and not a T20, we are at about lunch on Day 3," Wilson, the CEO and MD of Air India, said during a select media briefing. A Test match is for five days while a T20 gets completed in less than four hours. Since Tatas took over Air India in January 2022, it has consolidated the airline business -- Air

Air India derosters 3 cabin members for lapses in opening aircraft door

Air India has derostered three cabin crew members for an erroneous approach in opening the door of a Boeing 777 aircraft that led to the auto-deployment of the emergency slides, according to sources. The incident happened with the Boeing 777 plane at the Bangalore airport after it landed from San Francisco on September 15, they said. When contacted, an Air India spokesperson said a technical issue was reported with one of the doors not opening appropriately upon landing and the matter was attended to promptly. "In a serious safety violation, the door of Air India's Boeing 777 aircraft that operated the flight AI 176 from San Francisco to Bangalore on September 15, was opened in armed mode when the aircraft arrived at the Bangalore airport. "As a result of this, the emergency slides automatically got deployed," a sources told PTI. Another source said three cabin crew members have been derostered for the lapse and an internal probe has been ordered. However, Air India did not comme

Air India's Delhi-Vancouver flight faces delay, rescheduled for Sunday

Air India's flight from the national capital to Vancouver, which was to take off early Saturday morning, faced an inordinate delay due to technical issues. The airline said the flight has been rescheduled and is now expected to depart early morning on Sunday. In a span of three days, this is the second instance of an Air India ultra long haul flight getting delayed for long hours. After a delay of more than 30 hours, the airline's Delhi-San Francisco flight, that was originally scheduled to depart at around 1530 hours on Thursday, took off at 2155 hours on Friday. "AI185 scheduled to operate Delhi-Vancouver of 1 June was delayed because of technical issues and subsequently due to crew coming under the mandatory Flight Duty Time Limitations," an Air India spokesperson said in a statement on Saturday. The spokesperson said the flight is expected to leave early morning on June 2 and regretted the inconvenience caused to passengers due to the operational disruption. The flight was ..

AI Express cabin crew union, airline management discuss various issues

Representatives of a cabin crew union at Air India Express and airline management on Tuesday held discussions on salary and other issues during the meeting convened by the labour department as part of the ongoing conciliation proceedings, according to a source. The next meeting is scheduled for July 2, the source said. The Air India Express Employees Union (AIXEU), which represents a section of the cabin crew at the airline, had filed a complaint before the labour department last year. Following the complaint, a conciliation process is happening under the Industrial Disputes Act. Room sharing, lack of proper support, revised salary structure and alleged differential treatment of experienced crew members of Air India Express are among the issues flagged by the union. The source, on the condition of anonymity, said various issues were discussed at the meeting held on Tuesday, including those related to salary and accommodation for cabin crew during layovers. At the meeting, the ...

A-I ceased to be 'State' or its instrumentality post disinvestment: SC

Air India Limited (AIL) ceased to be State or its instrumentality under Article 12 of the Constitution after its disinvestment and take over by the Tata Group in January 2022, and no case of alleged violation of fundamental right would lie against it, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday. The apex court dismissed the appeals filed against a September 20, 2022 verdict of the Bombay High Court which had disposed of four writ petitions instituted by some employees of AIL over alleged stagnation in pay and non-promotion of employees and delay in payment of wage revision arrears, among others. The top court noted that the petitions before the high court had claimed violation of Articles 14 (equality before law), 16 (equality of opportunity in matters of public employment), and 21 (protection of life and personal liberty) of the Constitution. A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Sandeep Mehta noted that the high court had disposed of the pleas on the ground of non-maintainability of the writ

SIAEC to develop Air India's base maintenance facilities in Bengaluru

Air India on Saturday announced it has appointed SIA Engineering Company Limited as its strategic partner for the development of its base maintenance facilities here. As part of the partnership, Air India will work closely with SIA Engineering Company Limited (SIAEC) on the planning, construction, development and operationalisation of its base maintenance facilities here, they said. In a statement, Air India said, "Projected to be ready in 2026, the facilities will comprise both wide-body and narrow-body hangars, including associated repair shops, to support the growing Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) needs of the aircraft fleet in Air India Group." "The collaboration with SIA Engineering Company will not only help Air India become more self-reliant for the maintenance of its own fleet but it also reiterates our commitment to strengthen India's aviation infrastructure by boosting the growth of the country's MRO industry," Campbell Wilson, Chief Executive Officer and Managing

Flight of disinvestment: Centre's PSU stake sale programme remains elusive

Air India flew and LIC moved, but a big-bang PSU stake sale programme has proved to be elusive so far

Air India, Vistara merger under lens as CCI looks for impact on competition

People in the know said that while CCI's scrutiny is unlikely to have any material impact on the business of the airlines, it could affect the timeline of the merger

Amid rising competition, Air India may reward talent with 8-10% salary hike

This is the first performance review of employees since the Tata Group took control of Air India

Amid staff shortage, peak demand, Air India to cancel long-haul flights

As of now, six weekly flights to the US, three to Newark and three to San Francisco, will be trimmed due to a crew shortage for the coming 2-3 months, said CEO & MD of Air India, Campbell Wilson

AI pushed into losses, disinvestment to protect public money: Scindia

He said the losses of 14 years had accumulated to Rs 85,000 crore

Air India's return flight to Tatas may get delayed due to pending approvals

Dates to be cleared after requirements for fulfilling condition precedents met

Air India divestment will re-energise civil aviation sector, says PM Modi

The prime minister said that Covid vaccinations will inspire confidence among foreign tourists

Financial bids will be invited in coming days for Air India sale, says govt

The government has started the process to sell its entire 100 per cent stake in Air India that has been in losses since it merged with Indian Airlines in 2007

Hardeep Puri 'confident and hopeful' about Air India's divestment plans

'I have always said that Air India is a first-class asset,' he said.

Coronavirus: Air India disinvestment might be 'quite difficult', says IATA

The outbreak, which has infected over 95,000 people and resulted in more than 3,200 deaths worlwide, is taking a toll on the global airline industry, especially due to travel restrictions

BPCL, Air India, Concor divestments unlikely by March-end: Govt official

Govt has so far raised Rs 17,364 crore through stake sale against Rs 1.05 trillion target

Air India, BPCL, Concor divestments unlikely this fiscal: Govt official

It can be noted that the government has set ambitious targets from the disinvestments in FY20 at Rs 1.05 trillion

AI pilots' union urges govt to allow members to quit without serving notice

They have written a strongly-worded letter to Minister of State for Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri regarding their dues

Day after GDP data, PM defends govt's record and hints at more measures

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also joined in and defended the Centre's economic record in the last six months