Air India mulls walk-in interviews to replace pilots on strike

Air India's 400-odd striking pilots are fast running out of time.

In a first, the airline is planning to conduct walk-in interviews for hiring pilots and overcome the shortage created by the 53-day-old strike by the Indian Pilots' Guild (IPG). These walk-ins are being planned days after AI placed ads for hiring pilots in the international media.

"We are planning to hold walk-in interviews on a particular day every week. AI has given ads on our website and in Flight International but in those cases we have to wait till the last date of application before beginning the process of selecting people. In walk-ins, we can conduct simulator tests, interviews and hire those who clear them," said a senior official. The last date for the vacancies advertised on AI website is July 23.

"The wait for IPG to return can't be an endless one. Before the strike, 45 routes were operated on widebody aircraft, a figure that is now down to 38. We need to resume to pre-strike schedules. Two committees are assessing the number of pilots required," said sources.

Top officials involved in the exercise of evaluating AI's pilot requirement say the IPG must return to work at the earliest. "If the actual requirement is less than the number of people on strike, then we may not be able to take back all of them," said an official.

Apart from deciding to fill the gap caused by pilots' strike, the management is also trying to correct the huge mismatch in its staff positioning and flight operations. While 75% of its flights operate from the new hub in Delhi, 75% of the pilots are based in Mumbai.

"There is huge movement of pilots between the two metros for operating flights. The two-hour flying time between Mumbai and Delhi is also counted in duty time of pilots flying as passengers to operate flights from the capital and vice versa. Apart from reducing their actual flying time as per flight duty time limitation, they also need to be paid allowances for this. This needs to be corrected now," said an official.

Sources say, the aviation ministry is ready to take back 91 of the 101 sacked people back along with getting all others strikers back in cockpits.

Careers take off as airlines go on hiring spree

With no let-up in hiring by airlines , demand for ground staff, cabin crew and airhostesses is on the up. And, students trained at leading institutes are finding that they are the preferred ones in the jobs market.

Emirates, Lufthansa, Qatar Airways and Korean Airways have been hiring Indians as cabin crew, as fluency in a regional language is a plus while flying into the country. Industry players say they expect hiring to firm up further in the coming months.

"India has on order 400 aircraft for the next decade or so, involving an investment of $30 billion. This will throw up opportunities for 19,000 cabin crew, 24,000 technicians and 36,000 ground staff," said Mr Ravi Dighe, Head of Aptech Aviation. Aptech Aviation, which opened its 35th centre in Hyderabad last week, will open eight more this year. The target is to touch 75 in the next five years. Last year, 70 per cent of its nearly 5,000 students who registered for placement, were absorbed by the industry.

"The entry-level salaries ranged from Rs 10,000 to 15,000 for ground staff and Rs 25,000 to Rs 60,000 a month for in-flight crew ," he said. Frankfinn Institute, which has over 75 centres in India each training 200 students, also registered similar numbers. Last year, it enabled placements of around 5,000 students in the sector"Our students joined as cabin crew for an entry-level salary of between Rs 20,000 and Rs 25,000 in domestic airlines, and Rs 45,000 to as high as Rs 1.20 lakh in an international airline," Mr K.S. Kohli, Chairman, Frankfinn Group, said.

The institute is expanding its network, including in West Asia and Africa. It is also thinking of starting a regional airline, 'Air Frankfinn'.

For graduates of aviation academies, it is a good job market

Some domestic airlines might have landed in a trough in terms of profitability. But students coming out of aviation academies and institutions are getting aboard the aviation industry with relative ease.

With no let-up in hiring by Indian and foreign carriers, the demand for airport ground staff, cabin crew and airhostesses is strong, with industry players expecting it to further firm up in the coming months.

Foreign airlines such as Emirates, Lufthansa, Qatar Airways and Korean Airways have been picking up Indians as cabin crew, especially as they are looking for the added qualification of fluency in regional languages for their Indian flights.

“India has on order 400 aircraft for the next decade or so involving an investment of $30 billion. This will throw up opportunities for 19,000 cabin crew, 24,000 technicians and 36,000 ground staff,” Mr Ravi Dighe, Head of Aptech Aviation, said.

Aptech, which opened its 35th centre in Hyderabad last week, will open eight more this year and reach 75 in the next five years. Last year, 70 per cent of its total students of 5,000, who registered for placement, were absorbed by the industry.

“The entry level salaries ranged from Rs 10,000 to 15,000 for ground staff and Rs 25,000 to Rs 60,000 a month for placements inside aircraft,” he says.

Frankfinn Institute, which has over 75 centres in India, each training 200 students, also registered similar results. Last year it enabled about 5,000 students getting placed in the aviation industry in different categories.

“Our students joined as cabin crew for an entry level salary of between Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 in domestic airlines and Rs 45,000 to as high as Rs 1.20 lakh in an international airline,” Mr K.S. Kohli, Chairman of Frankfinn Group, said.

The institute is expanding its network in India and overseas, including West Asia and Africa, besides putting together plans to start a regional airline, ‘Air Frankfinn’.

Pinjore Flying Club back on track but no pleasure rides on cards

After three years of being grounded, the Pinjore Flying Club has finally found its wings back. The club, being run by Haryana Institute of Civil Aviation, is now back on track, with a chief flying instructor in place to handle the operations.

The club — once an extremely popular attraction because of the glider rides it offered city residents — has been virtually closed since August 2009. With over a dozen craft, including the Cessnas, the club was considered to be the best among the three flying clubs being run by the Haryana government.

“The Pinjore school is preferred by students training for flying craft. This is because of its proximity to Chandigarh and also the perfect weather conditions Pinjore offers for flying. It is most suited for instrument training as well,” says Captain Kamal Kishore, executive director, civil aviation, Haryana.

However, the club has witnessed an erratic operation schedule since August 2009 mainly due to medical reasons put forth by the then chief flying instructor. In January 2011, flying came to a grinding halt after the CFI was removed from service.

The training craft as also the students were then shifted to the Karnal Flying Club for their classes till the hunt for a new CFI was complete. “We had no option. The craft had to be kept in use. Now we have sent the craft and the students back to Pinjore,” adds Captain Kishore.

New CFI Captain D K Punia joined recently, and flying classes have resumed at Pinjore since April this year. The club’s two training craft — Cessna 152 and Cessna 172 — have been pressed into service to train half a dozen students registered with the club. The club offers practice session for a commercial pilot licence, private pilot licence and student pilot licence. Charges vary from Rs 7,000 to Rs 9,000 per hour, depending on the type of plane being used for the training.

“The Cessna 152 is a two-seater while the Cessna 172 is a four-seater. The two planes have been sent to Karnal for servicing and should be back by June-end,” says J S Bedi, the chief engineer at the school.

“Until some weeks ago, we were training students on the Cessna 172. Then we hit another hurdle: fuel shortage. The aircraft fuel has to be made available from the IOC and they are themselves waiting for the fuel from Mumbai,” says another employee of the club.

Other than the Cessnas which are being used to train the students, the club has no serviced plane. “We would need at least Rs 2 crore to put some of the planes we have into use. It’s for the government to give us that kind of grant,” say Bedi.

The club is also not planning any pleasure rides. “The pleasure rides were paid rides and the system ran for a few years. But later, we stopped these. I don’t think that system can be revived now. We intend to focus on training quality pilots here,” says Captain D K Punia, chief flying instructor at Pinjore.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has given the job of monitoring India’s 40-odd flying schools to a former flying school chief whom the Civil Aviation Ministry wants scrutinised by the Intelligence Bureau (IB), and who has been repeatedly red-flagged by the Home Ministry since 2002.

Capt Yashraj Tongia, a former managing director of Yash Air, the country’s largest flying academy, took charge at DGCA this month as director, flying training.

The training chief at India’s aviation safety regulator is responsible for regulating standards at flying academies, including granting approvals to schools and instructors. Following the ‘fake’ pilot licence scandal, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) asked DGCA to probe alleged irregularities committed by flying schools.

The Union Public Service Commission recommended Tongia’s appointment in February 2011. When the appointment was delayed, Tongia moved the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) saying the delay was due to “extraneous, arbitrary and malafide reasons”.

In March 2012, the principal bench of CAT cleared Tongia’s appointment. The Civil Aviation Ministry did not, at that stage, oppose the appointment.

On May 25, following a fresh complaint received against Tongia two days earlier, the Civil Aviation Ministry directed DGCA to seek IB clearance for him. The offer of appointment should be issued “subject to verification of character and antecedents including IB to satisfy the CAT judgment”, the ministry said.

The complaint — made by one Debashish Kant Roy to the ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office — was forwarded to DGCA chief E K Bharat Bhushan, to whom Tongia reports.

Bhushan, however, informed Civil Aviation Secretary Dr S Nasim Zaidi that CAT had not specified IB clearance as a precondition for Tongia’s appointment, and that the fresh complaint against Tongia could be investigated even after he has been appointed.

On May 29, Bhushan wrote to Zaidi: “There is no mention of a report from IB (in the CAT order). Hence it is to be considered whether introduction of (this) proviso, when we have to fulfill the direction of the Hon’ble CAT’s order within a firm timeline, would merely serve the purpose of delaying the appointment, thereby inviting possible strictures from the court.”

He added, “As regards the fresh complaints, due inquiry if necessary may be conducted by the ministry itself.”

Bhushan told The Indian Express that Tongia’s antecedents had already been checked by the Indore district magistrate. And if the ministry indeed wanted him checked by the IB, it should have said so earlier.

“If the ministry was so keen on an IB inquiry, why did they not say so when they first wrote to me on May 8 this year? They had all these records for over a year,” Bhushan argued.

“I had refused to accept Tongia but then the ministry took the stand before CAT that it never asked DGCA to stop Tongia from joining,” Bhushan said.

Secretary Nasim Zaidi declined to comment, saying this was a “court matter”.

Documents accessed by The Indian Express show that the Home Ministry’s internal security division had, on December 12, 2006, denied security clearance to Tongia and other directors of Yash Air.

“This ministry does not recommend from security angle, grant of NOC to M/s Yash Air Ltd, Sirpur, Maharashtra and its four directors, including Shri Yashraj Tongia...,” the Home Ministry wrote to the Civil Aviation Ministry.

On February 22, 2007, the Home Ministry wrote: “When this ministry had denied security clearance to Shri Yashraj Tongia in July 2002, why (has) M/s Yash Air Limited again decided to appoint him as director?”

In 2002, Home had written to Civil Aviation: “Shri Yash Raj Tongia. had indulged in certain financial irregularities during (his) association with MP Flying club and Udan Flying Club.”

Contacted by phone, Tongia said he was now a government servant and would not like to comment. A source close to him said these issues had now been settled, and the earlier denial of security clearance was not related to his appointment in DGCA.

Indian Aviation Academy to train African professionals

As part of pact India has inked with African Union

More than 100 aviation professionals from African countries will be trained at the Indian Aviation Academy, New Delhi, in operation and management of airports this year, according to Dinesh Kumar, director of the academy, which is the training wing of the Airports Authority of India.

The AAI set up the academy because a majority of its employees are highly experienced in airport operations and there is a need to train recruits as well as provide orientation programmes for existing staff as airport operations and management has changed over the years.

The IAC, which offers more than 120 courses, trained 3,500 people last year, said Mr. Kumar. The programmes were offered to foreign nationals as mandated by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

The training programme would be done as part of an agreement that India signed with the African Union and the duration would be 10 days.

“The Academy has trained about 20 executives from Afghanistan. Another batch will be taking our course this year. The academy trains them in all aspects of airport operation including safety and security.”

The academy, started in 2010, offered short-term courses for executives in cargo operations, airport passenger operations, commercial aspects of airport, human resources development, airport finance, airport engineering and aviation law.

It also has an approved training centre for aviation security training.

Besides starting long-term courses, the academy’s plans for the future include opening training centres in Mumbai, Guwahati, Ahmedabad and Kolkata.

It is expected to get a new building soon on an eight-acre plot near New Delhi. Plans are also afoot to tie up with foreign universities to offer full-fledged courses in aviation management.

The Singapore Aviation Academy is one of the organisations the academy is in discussion with for a possible tie-up. Mr Dinesh Kumar said: “Ultimately we want to make the academy into a deemed university in the next five years.”

Industry body to help Karnataka develop aviation sector skill sets

To strengthen Bangalore’s aviation competitiveness, Bangalore Chamber of Industry Commerce (BCIC) is planning to help Karnataka government in taking up vocational skill development programmes.

According to Mr Vinod Nowal, president, BCIC, “Since Bangalore has already taken a lead over other cities, we have initiated this to help sustain it, backed by adequate human resources and skill sets.”
Study on skill gap

To take it forward, BCIC has roped in the Society of Indian Aerospace Technologies (SIAT) to prepare detailed study on skill gap assessment and marketing potential to assist aviation ancillaries located in and around Bangalore.

BCIC is also being assisted by Athena Info Solutions, Chennai, in preparing background paper which has to be submitted to the central government for funding and to develop vocational skill development programs in aviation sector.

“This joint study will be out in six weeks and then we will be ready with the detailed project report,” said Mr M. Lakshminarayan, president-elect, BCIC.

“Since BCIC is a Bangalore-centric trade body, we are initiating this to support the proposed aero park, which is to come up in the vicinity of international airport in Devanahalli,” he added.

Mr D.V. Harish, vice-president, BCIC, said, “This key initiative will strengthen the brand Bangalore for aviation and make it the best place for the industry to invest and do business. This is achievable as Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has its base here.”

To give thrust to public private partnership (PPP) in the State, BCIC is planning to hold a meet on ‘PPP: An engine for growth and development’ on June 29.

Mr Nowal said, “With this theme, we are engaging the State government in capacity building and hand holding the State machinery on public-private initiatives. Our key role is to create the right climate for industrial growth in the State.”
Transparency

Mr Nowal said, “The Karnataka industries department needs to install transparency mechanism in monitoring and implementing projects committed at Global Investors Meet.”

He conceded that there was lack of information about the projects approved at the GIM and said that as per his assessment, projected investments “may not materialise and the State may see Rs 1.5 lakh crore to Rs 2 lakh crore investment flow.”

He said land acquisition and the failure of the single window system, which was meant to quicken statutory clearances, were among the main issues confronting industry in the State.

Air India may sack 300 more striking pilots

National carrier Air India may go ahead and sack 300 striking pilots, an official said on Monday.

"The pilots are on an illegal strike since May. How long do they (pilots) expect us to wait for them to resume duty? If the situation remains the same, then the rest (300) of pilots may also be terminated. But this decision will be taken by the Air India management," civil aviation minister Ajit Singh said.

"Not only has the illegal strike caused severe losses to the airline, but also wavered the trust of passengers from Air India. If they want to come back, then they are welcome."


When contacted, the striking aviators said they are studying the situation and currently on the stir.

"We are looking at the situation. We all are together in this and our unity would not break. Our only demand right now is the reinstatement of our sacked colleagues and recognition of our union," a senior committee member in the now de-recognised union - Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) - told IANS.

Earlier, the Air India management had sacked 101 pilot-members of the IPG. The IPG, representing aviators of the erstwhile Air India, went on strike on May 8 against the move to train their counterparts from Indian Airlines on the soon-to-be-inducted Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

The strike has crippled Air India's international operations, with the airline only operating 38 international flights from the original 45 services.

"Operations to northeast Asia has been hit badly, so have US and European services. Under the new scheme of things, we are trying to mitigate losses by operating to key destinations only," an Air India official said.

Air India prepared for the worst, pilots adamant

 

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With no resolution in sight to the Air India pilots strike, the Civil Aviation Ministry seems ready to crack the whip. Do 300 pilots of the erstwhile Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) stand to loose their jobs? And what would that mean for the airline?

Nearly 440 Air India pilots have been on agitation for over 35 days, of which 101 have been sacked already, and the remaining still refuse to return to work.

Union Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh has said that the strike is as good as over and they do have a back-up plan if the need arises.

"It is for the Air India management to take action now. These pilots are off duty for more than 30 days. It is an illegal strike, they have defied the High Court. We have requested them to come back to work. Now it is up to the management to decide till when they can keep these pilots on their payroll," he said.

With the remaining pilots still adamant that they won't return to work till all their 101 sacked members are taken back, the ministry is prepared with a back-up plan.

Sources at the Civil Aviation Ministry say that even though they are able to manage 75 per cent of flight operations without the IPG pilots, if the need arises, they are open to the option of shutting down a section of Air India's international operations for three months and then resume flights once the pilots are trained and ready to fly.

Even though the management hasn't yet released any orders of mass sacking, they have put up advertisements to hire new pilots on their official websites.

Agitating pilots say it is impossible for Air India to function without them but the ministry is confident not only of maintaining operations, but also expanding by August.

It is not going to be an easy task recruiting and training 100 new pilots but the national carrier is prepared for the worst.

Alert women pilots save over 48 lives aboard Air India plane

The presence of mind of two women pilots saved the lives of 48 passengers and the crew aboard a Guwahati-bound Air India plane on Sunday after it was noticed that a front wheel of the aircraft was missing as it came in to land here.

"During a pre-landing check, the ATC discovered that one of the two front wheels were missing. The pilots were immediately informed and an emergency was declared at Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International (LGBI) Airport," a source in the Airports Authority of India (AAI) here told reporters.

The ATR flight from Silchar was being flown by Urmila Yadav and co-pilot Yashu.

They kept the aircraft circling for more than two hours over the airport to burn off the fuel while preparations were being made for an emergency landing, the source said.

"In such a situation, the remaining fuel is always burnt off to lighten the aircraft and prevent a fatal accident while landing.

"It was a good decision to burn the highly inflammable fuel as it sometimes lead to fatal accidents during emergency landings, the source said.

Although panic gripped passengers after they came to know about the snag, the plane landed safely and the passengers and crew were evacuated safely, an AAI official said.

Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi congratulated the pilots over the phone for their courage in landing the aircraft and saving precious lives.

The aircraft lost its front wheel during take off, a statement issued from the chief minister's Office here said.

No pilot, so AI to lease out its Boeing 777 fleet

Leasing to begin next month after arrival of 787 Dreamliners

Cash-strapped carrier Air India is looking to offer a few of its Boeing 777 aircraft fleet for lease due to scarcity of pilots. The leasing process would start later next month after the firm receives three Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft later this month, an Air India official said.

The national carrier will restart some of its abandoned ultra-long haul operations to New Jersey, Toronto and Newark where the 777s fly with the more fuel-efficient 787 fleet by next month to save costs. The company has a fleet of 17 777 aircraft but most of them are grounded due to the strike as pilots have not reported to duty for the past month. “We are looking to use the Dreamliner 787 in international routes where flying the 777 is profitably unviable. We will put some of the 777 aircraft on lease as they are already grounded,” an Air India official said. The firm is currently training batches of pilots to be able to fly the modern 787 wide-body aircraft.

Through lease, the firm is expected to recover a significant chunk of the Rs 350 crore operational losses it had to incur due to the month long strike by 420 pilots belonging to the de-recognised Indian pilots guild (IPG). “We are not looking to wet lease aircraft as earlier planned since we are ready to receive the Dreamliner 787 aircraft,” the official said.

The firm was earlier looking to wet lease aircraft (along with cabin crew and fuel) to restart flights on seven curtailed international routes.

Air India is expected to also resume routes to Hong Kong, Osaka and Seoul by August this year. The carrier’s operation to these routes had been curtailed last month due to striking section of pilots. The firm is currently operating on 38 of the total of 45 international operations. Operating the 777 on several international routes was unviable as it was associated with high costs due to maintenance and fuel charges, the official said.

On account of the existing grounded fleet of 777, Air India is still losing Rs 5 crore per day on account of tickets, parking and maintenance charges.

Govt may hire former private airlines' pilots in place of sacked Air India pilots

After virtually shutting the doors on 100 sacked Air India pilots, the government is working on a plan to replace them with those shed by some private airlines like Jet Airways.

Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh on Thursday said alternative plans were being made to ensure that operations of the state-run carrier were normalised within two-three months so that the revival plan could be put in place.

Observing that there were about 500 expat pilots in the country, he said, "We have to get in touch with them." There are about 60-odd expat pilots, trained on wide-body aircraft like Boeing 777s or Airbus A-300s, whose contracts with Jet Airways have ended or are about to expire. Kingfisher Airlines is also facing trouble and the government is hoping that there would be sufficient trained pilots looking for safer haven.

Maintaining that the 31-day-old strike was illegal and "without any logic", Singh said it was clear from the attitude of the agitators that "they don't want to work with this organisation (Air India)." He justified his contention by saying these pilots did not want to work with other pilots of erstwhile Indian Airlines or the management and had rejected the Dharmadhikari Committee report, which provided for their pay-scales and career graph security. The minister had on Wednesday said that for him, the strike was over and he did not see any point in the striking pilots coming back.

Holding that the young pilots had been "misled", the minister said he did not want to take anybody's job but could do nothing as the striking pilots were not ready to resolve their issues through dialogue. "I have maintained that there will be no victimisation, we will not be vindictive," he said, lamenting that the strike was still continuing. "What they are doing is inexplicable .... I don't know what they are expecting."
Singh, who had on Wednesday said the sacked pilots would have to apply afresh, today said they would be eligible only after they cleared the mandatory medical tests and simulator training. Pilots have to undergo thorough medical check-ups two weeks after they report sick, while the refresher training is required if they don't fly for 30 days.

He said even if the striking pilots had grievances, they were only concerned about themselves and not about the bleeding airline and thousands of its employees whose jobs were being "jeopardised" because of the agitation. "It is easy to take away jobs. But creation of jobs is very difficult. I don't want to take away anybody's job," Singh said.

Criticising the agitators for going on strike during the peak season without any notice, he said it was time for everybody to work for the turnaround of Air India, for which the government has earmarked Rs 30,000 crore. He underlined that this amount would be available only when certain financial and operational milestones were achieved by the airline in a phased manner over nine years.

Air India to hire 100 new pilots

Air India is going to induct about 100 new pilots in the next few months, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said on Wednesday while virtually shutting the doors for striking pilots, asking those sacked to apply afresh.

Indicating that the 101 sacked pilots could be replaced by new ones, Singh said 90 pilots were currently undergoing training and would be available for flying in August.

"We're making sure we have enough resources - pilots and engineers to operate the new flights we have planned," he said in reply to a spate of questions on the month-long pilots' agitation spearheaded by the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG).

The striking pilots questioned the Government's plan. "We have serious doubts about ministry's move (to hire pilots). Whom do they want to benefit? At a time when the company is under severe financial crunch, can these new pilots be afforded at a salary which is double of ours?" Captain Anil Kumar Rao, Joint Secretary of IPG, told reporters after pilots staged silent marches in Delhi and Mumbai.

"Such a move by the ministry can jeopardise fight passenger safety. Hiring foreign pilots without study of their track records could lead to compromise with safety issue," he alleged.

"We appeal to the AI management to come forward and have a dialogue. We want to fly. But for that somebody from the management or the ministry should hear us," he said.

But after facing a loss of over Rs.400 crore due to the strike in the peak holiday season, Government was in no mood to make any placatory moves.

On the contrary, a tough-talking Singh said the sacked pilots will have to apply fresh along with new pilots if they intend to get back.

"As far as we are concerned, the pilot's strike is over. If the (striking) pilots don't accept Dharmadhikari report which is part of the airline's turnaround plan, I don't think there is any point in their coming back....If terminated pilots want to come back, they will have to apply afresh," Singh said at a press conference convened to announce Air India's new global operations plan.

The IPG, which represents around erstwhile Air India pilots, have been pressing their demands relating to career progression, apart from reinstatement of sacked colleagues and restoration of recognition of their union.

Of the 1,539 Air India pilots, 657 belong to the erstwhile Indian Airlines, 610 in erstwhile Air India and there are 272 executive pilots in the management cadre.

"They (pilots) have decided not to come back. They have trashed the Dharmadhikari Report" which recommended several steps for integration of the staff of the two erstwhile airlines post their 2007 merger, Singh said.

"Our stand is that the strike is illegal. The High Court has also said it. They also did not give notice (for the strike)... They are still welcome if they want to come back, but there should be no pre-condition," he said.

Maintaining that the truncated international schedule being operated during the strike had stabilised, Singh also announced that Air India would get three new Boeing 787 Dreamliners this month.

Observing that Air India would soon advertise for taking more pilots and approach agencies to hire them, the Minister said, "It is up to them (striking pilots) whether they want to come back to work....They can always respond to the advertisements of Air India."

Asked whether more pilots would be sacked, he said "It is up to the management to decide whether they want to extend this action to others also."

He also said there were "sufficient number" of pilots to fly the new B-787 Dreamliner planes.

Regarding the issue of compensation being sought by the national carrier from Boeing for delay in delivery of the B- 787s, Singh said the airline Board had moved a proposal after talking to the US manufacturer. "It will come up before the CCEA (Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs) soon."

Asked whether the government wanted to privatise or sell off Air India now or at a later date, he said, "At present, there is no such proposal and we are not considering it."

Has MP Flying Club hit air pocket?

 

The Madhya Pradesh Flying Club (MPFC) has decided not to avail the grant of Rs 2 lakh per annum given to it by the state government from this year. MPFC Secretary Milind Mahajan confirmed the decision to DNA.

"For over 24 years, from 1958 to 1982, the club successfully maintained and operated aircraft belonging to MP state government. An annual aid of Rs 10 lakh that the club used to get was stopped in 2001. From 2007 till 2010, grant was restarted albeit on a lower slab of Rs 2 lakh per annum. The government did not keep up to its promise of increasing this sum. This despite the fact that we pay huge taxes to the government," Milind said. Annoyed over the government move, the club, which has turnover of Rs 3.5 crore, decided to register protest by not availing the grant.

The grant issue is one of the several ones plaguing the club. Right from its inception on October 9, 1951, the MPFC has been facing issues of clearance, licence, subsidy and a fleet of unusable aircraft. The club has also been mired in controversies with the latest one being when flight operations were closed at Indore airport for non-payment of hangar charges and at Bhopal for not having a chief flying instructor (CFI).

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) had banned entry of club's officials, students and staff into Indore airport for non-payment of hangar maintenance charges in April this year but things changed after a meeting was convened by AAI with Aero Club of India and MP Sumitra Mahajan in this regard. "The AAI has now allowed us to resume our activity," said Milind. The club has, however, decided not to pay these charges.

The genesis of this controversy lies in a subsidy agreement that Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had entered into with 40 or so clubs affiliated to Aero Club of India way back in 1966. The DGCA paid the clubs in cash the land, hangar and hourly subvention claims.

Things changed in 1991. Nil lease was charged by DGCA for the hangar at Indore airport and after formation of National Airport Authority (NAA), control of airports passed on to this agency. In 1982, NAA was replaced with AAI. In a review carried out in 2007 for bolstering revenue, a 10 % duty was levied for landing, parking, route navigation and facility (RNFC) charges. In 2009, a notice was served by AAI levying 10 % more duty on what was already being charged since 2007. Protesting this move, MPFC moved the High Court in March this year, terming it as 'financial harassment'.

The subsidy agreement with both DGCA and state government still remains a controversial issue. The agreement with DGCA and enhanced according to CAR'M' is valid up to March 23, 2012 for both Indore and Bhopal. The official website of MPFC and DGCA both display this date with no change in status. MPFC officials however claim the same has been renewed till 2013.

The state government grant, which the club has now refused to accept, too has been a subject of controversy. The grant was resumed after nine years when the son of then Chief Secretary Rakesh Sahni was offered concession for training as a commercial pilot. The flying fee charged from him was `4100 per hour compared to `6200 per hour for others. The club had claimed at that time that resumption of grant by government was just a coincidence and not because they had given a concession to relatives of government officials.

Later, Lokayukta had ordered a probe against Sahni. Another issue that had led to the flight operations coming to halt for several months at Bhopal was resignation of CFI Captain Majid Akhtar. Akhtar had resigned following allegations as to how he could instruct pilots as he himself had failed the re-current training programme conducted in the US. MPFC then took permission from DGCA to allow PII Nikhil Bakshi to assume command in his place.

Air India plans to hire pilots to run long-haul international flights

With no end in sight to the Air India pilots' strike, the national carrier has firmed up plans to hire new cockpit crew to run its long-haul international operations which have been hit by the 29-day long agitation.

Hiring of new batches of pilots is part of a new business plan for international operations, which the ailing carrier is likely to announce tomorrow. It would be implemented as soon as necessary clearances are granted by aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), official sources said today.

The new plan comes two days after the government pumped in Rs. 1,200 crore as additional equity in the cash-strapped carrier.

 The additional funds are part of the Rs. 30,000 crore infusion plans, which is to be implemented over next nine years so long as the airline keeps meeting set financial and operational parameters for a complete turnaround.

With this infusion, the airline would pay Rs. 250 crore as salary to all employees, barring the pilots who have been on strike since May 7. The rest would be used to pay tax dues and those to vendors like airport operators and oil companies.

The new business plan includes the long-haul sectors on which Air India would operate flights as soon as the Boeing 787 Dreamliners are inducted, the sources said.

The airline is also getting back soon an Airbus A-330, which was grounded for repairs. This aircraft is likely to be used for resuming operations to destinations like Shanghai and Tokyo which are not covered now under the truncated schedule, they said.

The crisis-ridden national carrier intends to implement the new business plan soon to streamline its global operations, especially to North America and Europe.

The airline is currently operating 75 per cent of its international flights, or 38 of the 45 two-way services it normally flies globally.

Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh had recently said Air India, which was losing an average of Rs. 10-15 crore daily due to the IPG strike, was seeking to reduce this loss to Rs. five -six crore a day by operating a truncated international schedule.

"The less you fly, the less you lose", he had quipped, saying that the airline had, in fact, contained its losses by not operating on loss-making foreign routes.

The business plan, which would include hiring of new pilots, has been prepared after reviewing the airline operations on all routes, particularly in the international sector where it was making losses or was not able to recover even the fuel costs.

The new flight schedule would be submitted to the DGCA soon for approval.

"One thing is clear. The government will not give more public money to Air India. This Rs. 30,000 crore (infusion over nine years) is their last chance to perform or perish," Singh had said.

Air India pilot’s son expelled for midair stunt

An Air India commander's son got his student pilot licence (SPL) cancelled by the Rae Bareli-based Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Udaan Academy (IGRUA) and will be expelled from the institute for flying his trainer aircraft extremely low to click pictures.

The aircraft crashed a few months ago near Rae Bareli. Luckily, the IGRUA student, who was flying solo, survived. But a probe later revealed the indiscipline that made the DGCA take an unprecedented action on Friday. "The student was on an unauthorized flight, flying dangerously low and clicking pictures; a combination of these factors led to the plane getting entangled in high tension wires and crashing. He could have crashed into a building which would have led to a loss of many lives. His SPL is being cancelled and IGRUA will be asked to expel him. Discipline in pilots has to start at a very early stage," DGCA chief Bharat Bhushan said.

"Such instances of indiscipline happen once every three to four years and unless the strictest action is not taken, they won't stop," said IGRUA director VK Verma.

A few years back, a student pilot had flown his trainer aircraft very low over a lake in Gondia to get the 'thrill' of making a splash over the water body. While doing this stunt, his aircraft crashed on the embankment of the lake. He was let off after a corrective training and allowed to proceed with the course.

Three striking Air India pilots appear before DGCA

Three striking pilots of Air India, sacked by the national carrier, on Monday appeared before the DGCA and explained their position on the show-cause notices issued to them by the aviation regulator, official sources said.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had asked these pilots, who are senior members of the de-recognised Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) that is leading the pilots' strike, to appear before it and explain why their flying licences should not be cancelled for not joining duty.

They were also asked to explain why they had not replied to the show-cause notices issued to them on May 12. The pilots "explained their position" on the show-cause notices when the appeared before DGCA chief EK Bharat Bhushan, the sources said without elaborating.

Similar notices were issued to seven other sacked pilots after Air India wrote to DGCA to seek an explanation from them as to why their licences should not be cancelled for not reporting to work. These seven pilots had submitted their replies to the notice last week.

After they started reporting sick from May seven as part of their agitation on career progression issues, the IPG was de-recognised and the services of 101 pilots were terminated.

With Air India pilots striking over issues relating to their career progression, government announced a roadmap for implementing the recommendations of the Justice DM Dharmadhikari Committee on measures to integrate the pay-scales and seniority issues of the staff of the two erstwhile state-run airlines -- Indian Airlines and Air India.

Nigeria jet’s engines failed; toll 193

 

Nigeria plunged into a state of mourning on Monday after a horrific air tragedy saw a passenger plane crash into a residential area, killing all 153 people on board including an Indian co-pilot and over 40 others on the ground.

The pilot of the ill-fated plane had sent out emergency signals while nearing the runway indicating a technical problem but the Boeing MD-83 plane, belonging to Dana Air, an Indian-owned company, went down near the airport shortly afterwards. The flight reported both of its engines having failed before it went down, the country's civil aviation chief Harold Demureen said on Monday.

Fears mounted on Monday that a large number of people may have been killed on the ground besides all 153 passengers and crew on board as rescuers still struggled to clear the massive wreck and pull out the bodies. The plane flying from the Nigerian capital Abuja to Lagos had an American pilot who was being assisted by an Indian co-pilot , aviation authorities said.

Rani Malik, the consular officer of the Indian high commission in Lagos said that the name of the Indian co-pilot was Mahendra Singh Rathore. A source said the plane had an Indonesian flight engineer on board.
Rescue workers on Monday recovered additional 40 bodies who were not in the aircraft but either in the building where the plane crashed or standing near the road. Demureen said that the cause of the fatal landing was yet to be known by his agency. The black box of the aircraft has been found and handed over to authorities for investigation.

President Goodluck Jonathan declared three days of national mourning and ordered an investigation into the cause of the crash.

While there were no survivors on the plane, there was still no final account of how many might have died on the ground. Emergency officials said it was unclear how many people were inside the building and on the street outside at the time of the crash.

The Chinese embassy said six of its nationals were on the plane. Besides, two Major Generals, many members of staff of the Central Bank of Nigeria, and several top personalities were also on board.
Cranes cleared the stillflaming debris to allow rescue workers better access to the densely populated crash area.

Crowds of residents surrounded the crash site, delaying emergency services from searching for survivors. For hours, the area around the crash site was not cordoned off as the mass of people packed the area.

Nigeria has a poor aviation record, though Dana had been considered to be a relatively safe and reasonably efficient domestic airline. Sunday's crash appeared to be one of the worst in the country.
The deadliest came in July 1991, when all 261 on board a Nigerian Airways airliner died after its landing gear caught fire shortly after takeoff in Saudi Arabia, and the plane went down.

CM to take up Air India Air Transport Services Limited job security issue with Centre

Chief minister Oommen Chandy has promised that the jobs of 40-odd Air India Air Transport Services Limited (AIATSL) staff, currently employed at the Trivandrum Airport, will be secure and that no one will be forcefully evicted from their current positions.

"I had a conversation with Vyalar Ravi (when he was Union aviation minister) regarding job security of the AIATSL employees and I will take up the matter with Ravi again," said the chief minister during the Cabinet briefing on Thursday.

The management of Air India's joint venture company, Air India-Singapore Airport Terminal Services (AI-Sats), had assured the AIATSL staff that any decision regarding change in employment would be taken only in consultation with the state government.

"The chief minister personally spoke to Air India executive director (south), Sunil Kishen, and asked him to give the staff two weeks to hash out a solution," said a source in the CM's office. Meanwhile, four AIATSL staff, whose contract ended on Wednesday, were asked to surrender their airport entry pass and to choose one of the three options -- to join Air India's new joint venture company AI-Sats, opt for transfer to one of the other stations or join the security department at Trivandrum.

Anticipating trouble from the staff after serving termination letters, the Air India management has sent seven ground handing staff to the airport from Chennai.

"We have been honest workers and we will not quit our jobs. The AIATSL staff have refused to join the joint venture company AI-Sats because they feel that the Air India management is cannibalizing the company," said an AIATSL GSD employee.

"Air India and Air India Express together operate around 4,000 flights per year from Trivandrum Airport and presently these flights are handled by AI and AIATSL employees at no additional cost. If AI-Sats is handed over the ground handling of these flights, Air India will have to incur an additional expense of Rs 10 crore per annum as the ground handling charges for these flights at Rs 25,000 per flight). No profit will be made by Air India and Sats is using old equipment belonging to Air India by not making any new investment at the airport," said an Air India official at the airport.

Add to that, AI-Sats has overlooked the eligibility criteria when they conducted recruitment at the Trivandrum Airport. The criteria for hiring for AI-Sats vacancies at Bengaluru airport were far more stringent.

Indigo Air ties up with CTC Aviation to train its pilots

IndiGo Airlines has tied up with New Zealand-based training organisation CTC Aviation Group for training its pilots. This initiative is in line with the expansion plants which the company has embarked upon.

"In line with this dynamic expansion, the company will be upgrading carefully selected First Officers to command positions," said the Delhi-based airline. IndiGo currently operates 56 of a total of 280 firm orders for Airbus A320 aircraft to be delivered by the end of 2025.

The airline wants to take out its pilots out of their routine working environment and immerse them in a training development programmes that will identify their needs.
 

It may be recalled that the airline surfside the industry last year by ordering 180 Airbus A320s from European aircraft manufacturer Airbus for a valuation of $15.6 billion (Rs 70,000 crore), indicating that the aviation industry is beginning to fly out of turbulence.