Politicians and their plane truths

New Delhi: Rajiv Gandhi's smooth landing into politics from a career as a pilot— like Orissa's late chief minister Biju Patnaik's before him—led many politicians of different shades take to the skies to hone their flying skills as a hobby, launch their own airline service or even make forays into commercial flying.
BJP MP from Saran, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, 51, did the opposite of Gandhi by starting out as a politician and then venturing into flying. "I began flying in 2010 when I got a private pilot license. Then I got a Commercial Pilot License from the Patna Flying Club.
I fly A-320 commercial planes for an airline as an honorary pilot," Rudy, who was civil aviation minister in the NDA government, told ET.
Rahul Gandhi is also said to have learnt flying skills, according to sources, but chose his father's second profession. Several of the young Turks in politics have flown planes and choppers as a hobby.

Baggage not safe at IGI airport, ground staff under lens

New Delhi: Keep valuables in hand baggage is a suggestion offered by all airline operators to flyers. Implicit in it is the real risk their check-in baggage is subject to as may be vouched for by several who ignored it at their own peril.
Five months into 2014, 58 thefts at Indira Gandhi International Airport have already been registered with police. Last year, the number of such cases was 68, and two years ago it was 52, suggesting a rising trend. Most of these thefts have taken place inside the domestic and international terminals, say police.

AI Dreamliner attempts take-off from Frankfurt twice, in vain

New Delhi:  The Boeing 787 Dreamliner's unending trouble with spoilers — speed retardation devices on the wings that move up and down — saw over 200 passengers supposed to fly from Frankfurt to Delhi on Thursday night taxiing out of the airport twice only to return to the aerobridge minutes later each time. The aircraft had to be finally grounded in Germany on Thursday night as by the time the problem was sorted, night curfew had kicked in at Frankfurt.
The problem started when AI 123 on Dreamliner (VT-AND) first taxied out of Frankfurt and a problem was detected with the spoilers. This device acts as a speed breaker on an aircraft and its actuators make it go up or down on wing tips during takeoff to alter drag and during landing to increase rate of descent. Without this important device perfectly functional, an airplane can't be allowed to get airborne.

‘Fatigue’ among ATC staff leads to mid-air collision scare

Mumbai: Two aircraft carrying a total of 850 passengers ended up on the same flight level on Thursday morning, sparking a mid-air collision scare. However, the flights, one operated by Etihad Airlines and the other by Ethiopian Airlines, managed to get away from each other's path in the nick of time.
Top officials in the Airports Authority of India (AAI) blamed poor coordination between the air traffic controllers in Mumbai and Chennai for the incident.
The Etihad Airlines flight 413 was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Abu Dhabi, while the Ethiopian Airlines flight 685 was travelling from Shanghai to Addis-Ababa. The flights did not have a stopover in India and were merely flying through the Indian airspace. The Mumbai ATC was coordinating with the Etihad flight, while the Chennai ATC was in touch with Ethiopian Airlines pilot.
The Mumbai ATC officer concerned has said in his report that he was severely fatigued and also the flight traffic was high, which resulted in "an error of judgement". AAI officials, however, said that it was a major lapse as the two planes came dangerously close to each other.

Air India’s privatisation may be one of first steps

New Delhi: The privatisation of Air India could possibly be one of the major disinvestment moves of the Modi government. The UPA government, in its second term, had earlier commenced a process of bailing out Air India through equity infusion of Rs 30,000 crore over a decade.
Well-placed Air India sources acknowledged that the airline could well be privatised in the near future since it was becoming increasingly “complex” for the government to be running an airline. Sources said that with the “stabilisation” in Air India’s fortunes, given the huge financial backing of the UPA-2 government, the airline could eventually be privatised. There is talk in saffron corridors that Mr Arun Shourie, who was heading the department of disinvestment (DoD) in the Vajpayee government, could play a key role in possible disinvestment moves by Mr Modi.
Air India had recorded a net loss of Rs 5,198 crore in the financial year 2012-13 while the financial year 2011-12 had seen an even greater net loss Rs7,559 crore. The airline began plummeting financially after the merger of the erstwhile international carrier Air-India and the domestic Indian Airlines in 2007.

AirAsia’s low-cost model won’t work: Sanjiv Kapoor, SpiceJet COO

Mumbai: Barely a month before AirAsia India finally takes off, the air is thick with barbs and potshots. Three days after Tony Fernandes took a potshot at India's biggest carrier IndiGo on Twitter, the chief of AirAsia's other Indian rival criticised its low-fare model saying it won't work in the face of high costs in India. Sanjiv Kapoor, COO of SpiceJet, said AirAsia's low-cost model won't work in India in the face of high costs.
"There is one way to offer fares lower by 30-35% than market rates; that is to have a 30-35% lower cost structure. Given fuel and other costs are similar for all players in India, that kind of cost advantage can only come from lower aircraft and asset costs. You can have that kind of cost advantage if, maybe, part of your costs are reflected in Kuala Lumpur and not in India," Kapoor told reporters at a press conference in New Delhi.

SpiceJet asks aviation ministry for 7,000 weekly seats to Doha; says minor stake sale close

New Delhi: SpiceJet, India’s second-largest low-cost carrier, has applied to the civil aviation ministry for 7,000 seats weekly to Doha – the capital city of Qatar, its CCO Kaneswaran Avili said on Friday at an event for the launch of its new in-flight menu. The move comes even as the loss-making carrier confirmed that it soon hopes to retire part of its Rs 1,516 crore short and long-term debt after a stake sale to an investor, with reports further indicating that Qatar Airways could be this mystery partner.
“We have been in discussions with an investor and sooner or later we will announce it. I cannot name the company right now. It will be a small stake sale and retiring some of the debt will give us the confidence to focus on re-building the airline,” Sanjiv Kapoor, SpiceJet’s COO said.

SpiceJet not in talks with Qatar for slot sale: CEO

New Delhi:  SpiceJet has denied it is in talks with Qatar Airways for sale of slots. “This is completely baseless,” the airline’s CEO Sanjiv Kapoor told newspersons here on Friday.
In a statement to the BSE, the airline said, “We also confirm that there is no truth whatsoever in the scheduling of a meeting to discuss investment plans with Qatar Airways.”
Asked about SpiceJet’s plans of getting in a potential investor, Kapoor said the list of potential investors is “really small,” but declined to get into specifics of whether another airline or investor was interested in picking up a stake in the airline.
“The matter is being handled out of Chennai. Besides, the promoters are pumping money into the airline,” he said.

Proposal for heliport at Mumbai’s Mahalaxmi race course faces opposition

Mumbai: A proposal to build a heliport in the heart of the iconic Mahalaxmi race course has upset the people who run it.
The 130-year old race course is part of Mumbai's history and has been declared a heritage structure. The 226-acre ground is among the few large green spaces in this congested city.
Authorities of the Royal Western India Turf Club which runs the race course said that they had not been involved in the planning process and that they were totally against the idea. “Having a heliport right in the centre of the race course will affect, not just the horses, but also others who use the open area. Children play in the space and adults use it to walk in the evenings. Having a heliport right there will stop all the activities of the race course,” said Vivek Jain, chairman of RWITC.
The race course was first proposed as a probable location for the heliport more than two years ago.

Steep airfares make Kashmir unaffordable for tourists

Srinagar: The steep hike in airfares has turned Kashmir unaffordable destination for most of the domestic tourists. The stakeholders allege it is a ‘deliberate’ attempt to cut inflow of tourists to the Valley.
Currently, the airfare on Delhi-Srinagar sector runs in the range of Rs 13,000 to 22,000. Similar is the case with Srinagar-Delhi sector. The prohibitive airfares, according to experts here, are hitting not only the tourists but also the locals particularly the frequent flyers.
“It has now become a pattern with the airliners that at the inception of every tourism season in Kashmir they arbitrarily increase the fares on this sector making travel to and from Kashmir unaffordable,” Mushtaq Ahmad, assistant manager, Travel Master, a reputed travel agency in Srinagar, said.
The assistant manager Travel Master said: “Many of our customers in Kashmir have either postponed their trips to outside or from outside to Kashmir, or are coming by road because of the steep airfares.”

SpiceJet says raising yields way to survive

New Delhi: Two days after AirAsia group chief Tony Fernandes said IndiGo’s attempts at hindering launch operations would only make his airline stronger, SpiceJet’s Chief Operating Officer Sanjiv Kapoor, noting the expansive presence of the Rahul Bhatia-promoted carrier in the domestic market, spoke of the need to differentiate service offerings and improve yields.
“I do not think there is room for two IndiGos. They have their own clientele. They are doing a fabulous job. They are growing and it is difficult to match IndiGo. We have to create our special place,” said Kapoor.
He elaborated that given the high-cost operating environment in the domestic aviation market, if an airline did not have scale, the only way for it to sustain operations viably was to focus on improving yields.

SpiceJet to raise monthly salaries of senior pilots by Rs 80,000 from July

New Delhi: Kalanithi Maran-promoted SpiceJet will raise monthly salaries of it’s around 100 senior commanders by up to Rs 80,000 on average from July 1, in a move to counter increased attempts by new players such as Etihad, AirAsia and Tata-SIA to poach highly-skilled commanders from the incumbents, industry sources said.
This is part of a wage hike plan for across the carrier’s cabin crew and its approximately 400 pilots. The industry’s average monthly wage for senior commanders is Rs 5.3 lakh but at SpiceJet it is lower, at about Rs 4.5 lakh. The wage increase will be a combination of fixed and variable pay, though the larger increase will be in the fixed pay component.

Jet Airways Starts Third Delhi Flight From Kathmandu

Kathmandu: Indian private carrier Jet Airways has increased its frequency on the Kathmandu-Delhi sector by launching a third daily flight, the airline announced here.
The carrier now operates three daily flights on the Kathmandu-Delhi sector effective Friday and two daily flights on the Kathmandu-Mumbai sector.
Kathmandu is becoming an important market for Jet with ever growing number of migrant workers to the Gulf and other countries who use it for connecting flights to their destination countries.
"Nepali workers going abroad are the largest passenger base for us, but the number of corporates, tourists and passengers visiting friends and relatives flying with us are also growing," Samir Chada, country manager of Jet Airways in Nepal, said.

KPMG suggests slew of measures in aviation sector

New Delhi: Consultancy firm KPMG today asked the new government to initiate reforms in the aviation sector by privatising Air India, getting states to develop no-frills airports, slashing sales tax rates on jet fuel and giving a tax holiday on aircraft maintenance facilities.
Listing out top priorities for the new government, KPMG's India head of aerospace and defence Amber Dubey also suggested establishment of an inter-ministerial group on aviation to facilitate faster decision-making across ministries like home, defence, finance, tourism and environment on issues relating to the aviation sector.
Besides privatising Air India, the new government should also undertake a complete overhaul of aviation regulator DGCA.
It should abolish the rule for allowing Indian carriers to fly abroad (five years of domestic flying and a 20-aircraft fleet) and conduct a debate on the need for an open sky policy within the country, Dubey said.
Read news in full 23/05/14 PTI/Business Standard

Actor Prakash Raj Slapped on Flight

Hyderabad:  Actor Prakash Raj, who had arguments with a passenger in a flight was allegedly slapped on-board a flight.  The airport authority, however, stated that there was mild argument between the actor and another passenger.
According to sources, Prakash Raj was taunted by the fellow passenger. Later, both boarded the same flight from Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA).  The duo allegedly had some arguments on board, during which the passenger slapped the actor.
Read news in full 29/05/14 New Indian Express