Page 5 - Aviation

Boeing agrees to purchase Spirit Aero for $4.7 billion in stock deal

Boeing plans to take control of the Spirit's manufacturing that supports its commercial jet line-up, including building frames for its cash-cow 737 Max

Aviation market big enough for Akasa Air to succeed: CEO Vinay Dube

As Akasa Air spreads its wings on domestic and international routes, the less-than-two-year-old airline's chief Vinay Dube has said he does not think about competition in encouraging or discouraging terms, as the aviation market is "big enough for us to succeed". The carrier, which took to the skies in August 2022, currently has a fleet of 24 Boeing 737 MAX planes and operates more than 900 flights weekly. While emphasising that the focus is on service excellence and cost leadership, Dube said the airline is looking for network and international expansion. "I don't think about competition and certainly don't think about it in encouraging or discouraging terms. If we focus on ourselves, the market is big enough for us to succeed," he told PTI in a recent interview. In response to the query on whether current competition is encouraging, Dube said, "We don't spend so much time focused on what competition is doing unless we have things we can learn from... what can be improved upon...

Canadian airline cancels 150 flights after surprise stir by mechanics union

Canada's second largest airline, WestJet, says it has cancelled at least 150 flights affecting 20,000 passengers beginning on Saturday after the union of maintenance workers announced it has gone on strike. The Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association said its members started to strike Friday evening because the airline's unwillingness to negotiate with the union" made it inevitable. The strike came after the federal government issued a ministerial order for binding arbitration on Thursday. That followed two weeks of turbulent discussions with the union on a new deal. On Thursday, WestJet said the union confirmed they will abide by the direction. Given this, a strike or lockout will not occur, and the airline will no longer proceed in cancelling flights. The surprise strike affecting international and domestic flights is happening during the Canada Day long weekend. Calgary, Alberta-based WestJet said it was extremely outraged and will hold the union 100 per cent accountable for t

Govt successfully conducts test flight of expendable aerial target 'Abhyas'

India successfully carried out a series of flight-tests of the indigenously developed high-speed expendable aerial target Abhyas from the integrated test range in Chandipur off the Odisha coast. Abhyas has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) as a target for the testing of missile systems. The DRDO has successfully completed six consecutive developmental trials of High Speed Expendable Aerial Target (HEAT) 'Abhyas' with improved booster configuration from the integrated test range, Chandipur, the defence ministry said. The successful flight tests have paved the way for production of the Abhyas systems. With this, Abhyas has successfully completed 10 developmental trials demonstrating the reliability of the system, it said. The ministry said the trials were carried out with "improved radar cross section, visual and infrared augmentation systems." The 'Abhyas' system offers a realistic threat scenario for carrying out testing on missiles. This

Air India to deploy A350 planes on Delhi-London route starting September 1

Air India will start operating its wide-body A350-900 aircraft on the Delhi-London route with two daily flights from September 1. The flights will mark the introduction of the plane on the international long-haul route, as Air India revamps and expands its operations to strengthen presence in international and domestic segments. "The A350-900 will replace the currently deployed Boeing 777-300 ER and Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner on 14 of 17 weekly flights. As a result, an additional 336 seats will be available on the Delhi-London Heathrow route each week," the airline said in a release on Thursday. Besides, the airline will introduce premium economy class seats in the A350-900 planes operating on the Delhi-London Heathrow route. Air India will operate two daily flights between the national capital and London Heathrow with the A350-900 aircraft starting from September 1. The airline started operating the A350-900 plane on the international route from May 1 with services between Delhi and

USTSA seeks one-stop pact with India to end rescreening of passengers

The US transport security body has sought a unique one-stop agreement with India to end the rescreening of passengers, asserting that the "really powerful" concept will raise global aviation security standards. Addressing the India US Aviation Summit here on Tuesday, David Pekoske, Administrator of the US Transportation Security Administration (USTSA) said that the one-stop security concept is "very reachable" between the countries. I think very tangible and very reachable between India and the United States is one-stop security," he said. "It's a concept that expedites the flow of passengers and baggage to their destinations by eliminating the duplication of security controls at transfer points, Pekoske said. He said in the case of a one-stop agreement, passengers who reach an airport in another country and have a connecting domestic flight would not need to be rescreened and their checked bags would go from aircraft to aircraft. Terming it a "really powerful" concept, Pekoske sa

US trade body approves funding to develop integrated aviation hub in Hissar

The US Trade and Development Agency has approved grant funding for technical assistance to help create an integrated aviation hub at the Hisar Airport in Haryana, aiming to develop airport cargo and logistics infrastructure to strengthen India's supply chain network, a top official has said. US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) Director Enoh T Ebong announced this on Tuesday at the three-day US-India Aviation Summit here. I am delighted to announce that USTDA has approved grant funding for technical assistance to help create an integrated aviation hub at the Hisar Airport in the State of Haryana," she said. "Our work will help develop airport cargo and logistics infrastructure that will strengthen India's supply chain network, she said without providing the quantum of the grant funding from the USTDA. Our partner for this activity will be the Haryana Airports Development Corporation (HADC), and our assistance will include capacity building to facilitate HADC's implementation of

Jet Airways' Naresh Goyal moves HC, seeks extension of interim medical bail

Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal has moved the Bombay High Court seeking extension of the two-month interim medical bail granted to him earlier. On May 6, the high court had granted interim bail for two months on medical grounds to Goyal, arrested in a money laundering case by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Goyal, 75, has now filed an application seeking extension of the same. The plea said his medical condition continues to remain poor and that he has also lost his wife to cancer on May 16. The application came up for hearing on Tuesday before a single bench of Justice Manish Pitale. The court referred to a circular issued by the high court in February, stating that the applications where earlier pleas were considered and decided by a particular judge shall be placed before the same bench. Justice Pitale directed the high court's registry department to place Goyal's application before the single bench of Justice N J Jamadar, who had granted him interim bail in May for two ...

Boeing's CEO to face questions about plane safety from US senators

US lawmakers are expected to press Boeing's chief executive on Tuesday about the company's latest plan to fix its manufacturing problems, and relatives of people who died in two crashes of Boeing 737 Max jetliners plan to be in the room, watching him. CEO David Calhoun is scheduled to appear before the Senate investigations subcommittee, which is chaired by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a Boeing critic. The hearing will mark the first appearance before Congress by Calhoun or any other high-ranking Boeing official since a panel blew out of a 737 Max during an Alaska Airlines flight in January. No one was seriously injured in the incident, but it raised fresh concerns about the company's best-selling commercial aircraft. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are conducting separate investigations. From the beginning, we took responsibility and cooperated transparently with the NTSB and the FAA, Calhoun said in remarks prepared for the

Gatwick Airport aims to double India traffic in 5 yrs: CCO Jonathan Pollard

Currently, a total of 24 flights per week are being operated between India and Gatwick Airport. Air India has been operating all 24 services since April last year

IndiGo to operate direct flights from Durgapur to Bhubaneswar, Bagdogra

Low-cost carrier IndiGo has announced new routes connecting Durgapur with Bhubaneswar, Bagdogra, and Guwahati. These new flights will commence on August 30, a statement by the airline said. Flights between Durgapur and Bhubaneswar will operate daily, Durgapur-Bagdogra four times a week, and Durgapur-Guwahati thrice a week, the statement added. Vinay Malhotra, head of global sales at IndiGo, said, "We are pleased to announce new routes connecting Durgapur with Bhubaneswar, Bagdogra, and Guwahati. With these direct flights, we aim to provide our customers with further seamless connectivity." With the addition of these services, IndiGo will now operate 42 weekly flights from Durgapur, significantly enhancing trade, travel, and tourism across eastern India, the statement said. The introduction of these flights will further strengthen the airline's domestic connectivity. Before the introduction of these new routes, travel between Durgapur and Bhubaneswar, Bagdogra, and Guwahati took ..

Europe's Airbus frets over global trade tensions amid EU-China spat

China has historically roughly split its import needs between Airbus and its US rival Boeing

Domestic air passenger traffic grows 5.1% to about 138.9 mn in May: ICRA

Domestic air passenger traffic grew 5.1 per cent year-on-year to an estimated 138.9 million in May and was significantly higher by around 14 per cent than pre-Covid levels, credit ratings agency Icra said on Thursday. Icra also said the outlook on the Indian aviation industry is stable amid the continued recovery in domestic and international air passenger traffic with a relatively stable cost environment and expectations of the trend continuing in FY2025. The airlines' capacity deployment in the previous month increased 6 per cent year-on-year and about 2 per cent higher than April 2024, it added. According to the agency, the domestic air passenger traffic for FY24 was around 154 million, with a year-on-year growth of around 13 per cent. It thus surpassed the pre-COVID levels of around 142 million in FY2020, the ratings agency said, adding that the international passenger traffic for Indian carriers stood at around 29.68 million last fiscal, registering a year-on-year growth of ..

737 MAX case: Boeing CEO to testify before US Senate panel on June 18

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in February barred Boeing from boosting 737 MAX production after a door panel blew out during a Jan 5 flight on a 737 MAX 9 operated by Alaska Airlines

IndiGo should not be branded as a low-cost carrier: CEO Pieter Elbers

A codeshare partnership between two carriers allows each airline to sell seats on the other's flights

Govt studying 300 airstrips to develop brownfield airports: Aviation secy

To meet the growing demand in the country's air travel market, Indian carriers have made four huge aircraft orders since last year

Japan Airlines signs a codeshare pact with IndiGo to expand its services

Japan Airlines on Monday said it has entered into a codeshare arrangement with IndiGo, which would help the Japanese carrier expand services to 14 destinations of the domestic carrier's network. At present, Japan Airlines operates its services to Delhi and Bengaluru from Tokyo. It offers daily flight services to the national capital from Haneda Airport, while its thrice-a-week services to Bengaluru are operated from Narita Airport. "Japan Airlines (JAL) and IndiGo have agreed on codeshare partnership which will benefit the customers by providing more travel options between Japan and India," a statement said. The codeshare partnership will allow Japan Airlines to strengthen its connectivity into India initially, while enabling more travel options for IndiGo customers on JAL's extensive domestic and international network in later phases, the statement said. The partnership will enable codeshare on India routes that connect to JAL-operated flights from/to Delhi and Bengaluru, as per t

Global airlines raise profit outlook for 2024, projects $1 trn in revenue

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said it expected the worldwide industry to generate $30.5 billion of profit this year

Increasing flights, more observations of clear air amid turbulence scare

As more and more flights criss-cross the skies, there are more observations of clear air turbulence, which has increased over the decades very likely due to climate change, and airlines are continuing with efforts to mitigate the impact of turbulence. Though rare, a Singapore Airlines flight from London to Singapore experienced severe turbulence on May 20 that caused the death of a passenger and left more than 70 people injured. While investigation is still on, the incident has also brought the focus on turbulence, especially the factors of climate change and Clear Air Turbulence (CAT). In recent weeks, there have also been other incidents of turbulence. Generally, CAT is defined as any turbulence where there is no cloudiness, and is invisible, which also makes detection difficult by pilots and radars in an aircraft. "While variations in climate can cause variations in CAT, a robust increase in CAT over decades is very likely to be because of climate change," Manoj Joshi, a Profess

Airlines ride AI: Less work for agents, human-like responses for passengers

From human-like responses to reduced workload for customer service agents to utilisation of trillions of parameters for answering air passengers' queries, artificial intelligence is providing the technological tailwinds for Indian airlines as they cater to rising traffic. For Air India, which has embarked on a five-year transformation plan, Artificial Intelligence (AI) use will be "pervasive" and its generative AI virtual agent AI.g handles over 1,300 topics. And the country's largest airline IndiGo has AI chatbot 6Eskai that has 1.7 trillion parameters, allowing it to answer questions with ease. Also, the bot can understand written, typed language, and verbal instructions using speech-to-text models. Akasa Air, which describes itself as a "cloud-native and digital-native brand", said it will continue to invest heavily in proven technology solutions across all business functions. India, one of the world's fastest growing civil aviation markets, is seeing rising domestic air traffi