Air India’s operations could be disrupted again from November 1 with a section of employees threatening action over non-payment of productivity-linked incentive (PLI) dues. This could gather momentum with the erstwhile Indian Airlines workforce now contemplating following suit.
Incentive issue
The spokesperson for the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), Capt R.S. Otall, said on Wednesday, “If our PLI dues are not paid by November 1, we will take any action from the book.”
He added that these were pending since August this year. The ICPA represents 1,000 former Indian Airlines pilots.
Late last month, executive pilots of Air India went on a five-day strike on the same issue. The airline then had to roll back its decision of 50 per cent cut in PLI. This was to have translated into savings of Rs 20 crore a month had it been enforced on 7,000 of the total 31,500 employees.
Grappling with loss
Air India is still grappling with losses of Rs 7,200 crore accumulated in the last two years. The current fiscal could see it slip deeper into the red with losses of Rs 5,000 crore.
As a result, it is looking at ways and means of cutting costs and reducing wage overheads. The Centre has made it clear that any financial aid would have to be preceded by cost-control.
The Minister of Civil Aviation, Mr Praful Patel, had said this month that Air India was not only looking at reducing costs by Rs 3,000 crore but also increasing revenue by Rs 2,000 crore.
Pre-delivery payments
Sources have said that the airline is expected to get Rs 3,000 crore from the Centre towards pre-delivery payments for a part of the 111 aircraft ordered. In all, it needs Rs 9,000 crore over the next three years.
Last week, the Group of Ministers headed by the Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, said Air India needed to evolve a concrete plan on savings.
Source:
Air India may hit air pocket again from Nov 1
The Hindu Business Line
Date- 29 October 2009
Edition- New Delhi
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/10/29/stories/2009102951322000.htm
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Qatar Airways links Doha and Goa ahead of holiday season
Qatar Airways, the Doha-based full service airline, announced the launch of its flights to Goa on Monday. As part of the continued expansions into India, Qatar Airways’ Doha-Goa operations come within two weeks of the carrier’s launch of flights to Amritsar.
The first full-service long-haul scheduled international airline flying to Goa will be using an Airbus A320 in a two-class configuration of 12 seats in business and 132 seats in economy. The carrier will be flying four times a week on this route.
As Goa sees a huge influx of travellers between October and March, the airline plans to cash in on the demand, especially from European countries. Also, Qatar aims to facilitate travel for a large section of Goan population that resides in the Gulf region.
Flight for Expats Mr Akbar Al Baker, Chief Executive Officer, Qatar Airways, told newspersons, “With a huge Goan community living and working in the Gulf, our new route has been long awaited and will help facilitate travel for expatriates between our two regions and beyond. Furthermore, being the start of the winter holiday season, Goa will see a huge influx of holidaymakers from across the world, especially Europe.”
The Goa route takes Qatar Airways’ capacity across India to 64 flights a week spread across 10 cities. The airline operates daily non-stop services from Doha to Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Trivandrum, Cochin and Kozhikode and four flights a week to Amritsar and Goa. Mr Baker added that the airline has plans of extending daily services from Goa and Amritsar.
Qatar Airways operates a fleet of 71 aircraft to 84 destinations across Europe, West Asia, Africa, South Asia, Far East and North America.
Source:
Qatar Airways links Doha and Goa ahead of holiday season
The Hindu Business Line
Date- 28 October 2009
Edition- New Delhi http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/10/28/stories/2009102850291500.htm
The first full-service long-haul scheduled international airline flying to Goa will be using an Airbus A320 in a two-class configuration of 12 seats in business and 132 seats in economy. The carrier will be flying four times a week on this route.
As Goa sees a huge influx of travellers between October and March, the airline plans to cash in on the demand, especially from European countries. Also, Qatar aims to facilitate travel for a large section of Goan population that resides in the Gulf region.
Flight for Expats Mr Akbar Al Baker, Chief Executive Officer, Qatar Airways, told newspersons, “With a huge Goan community living and working in the Gulf, our new route has been long awaited and will help facilitate travel for expatriates between our two regions and beyond. Furthermore, being the start of the winter holiday season, Goa will see a huge influx of holidaymakers from across the world, especially Europe.”
The Goa route takes Qatar Airways’ capacity across India to 64 flights a week spread across 10 cities. The airline operates daily non-stop services from Doha to Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Trivandrum, Cochin and Kozhikode and four flights a week to Amritsar and Goa. Mr Baker added that the airline has plans of extending daily services from Goa and Amritsar.
Qatar Airways operates a fleet of 71 aircraft to 84 destinations across Europe, West Asia, Africa, South Asia, Far East and North America.
Source:
Qatar Airways links Doha and Goa ahead of holiday season
The Hindu Business Line
Date- 28 October 2009
Edition- New Delhi http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/10/28/stories/2009102850291500.htm
Monday, October 12, 2009
Air India to fly daily to Washington from Dec 1
Air India has announced the launch of a daily Washington-New York-Delhi-Kolkata flight from December 1 putting the US capital on its map.The daily flight would have stops in New York and New Delhi before flying on to Kolkata, saving several hours for passengers travelling from Washington. 'Air India would deploy its latest state-of-the-art Boeing 777 LR aircraft on this route.
The flight from India will arrive at 9.30 a.m. and depart from Dulles International Air-port at 12.10 p.m. between December 1 and December 14. The timings change from December 15 when flights would arrive at 8.10 a.m. and depart at 1.10 p.m.
The decision by Air India has been welcomed by the members of the fast growing Indian-American community in Washington and adjoining areas, who have been demanding such a flight for several years."There was a demand for this flight from Washington DC and we are happy that our efforts have had a positive impact," said Mr Devashish Ray, Executive director of US Asian, a body of Asian communities.
"Air India wishes to thank USAsian for their sustained campaign in bringing this long-awaited need for flights from Dulles to India to a fruit-ful conclusion," the Chief of Air India in Washington DC. Mr Shrikant Gholt: said.
Source:
The Hindu Business Line
Date- 11 October 2009
Edition- New Delhi
The flight from India will arrive at 9.30 a.m. and depart from Dulles International Air-port at 12.10 p.m. between December 1 and December 14. The timings change from December 15 when flights would arrive at 8.10 a.m. and depart at 1.10 p.m.
The decision by Air India has been welcomed by the members of the fast growing Indian-American community in Washington and adjoining areas, who have been demanding such a flight for several years."There was a demand for this flight from Washington DC and we are happy that our efforts have had a positive impact," said Mr Devashish Ray, Executive director of US Asian, a body of Asian communities.
"Air India wishes to thank USAsian for their sustained campaign in bringing this long-awaited need for flights from Dulles to India to a fruit-ful conclusion," the Chief of Air India in Washington DC. Mr Shrikant Gholt: said.
Source:
The Hindu Business Line
Date- 11 October 2009
Edition- New Delhi
Air India to fly daily to Washington from Dec 1
Air India has announced the launch of a daily Washington-New York-Delhi-Kolkata flight from December 1 putting the US capital on its map.The daily flight would have stops in New York and New Delhi before flying on to Kolkata, saving several hours for passengers travelling from Washington. 'Air India would deploy its latest state-of-the-art Boeing 777 LR aircraft on this route.
The flight from India will arrive at 9.30 a.m. and depart from Dulles International Air-port at 12.10 p.m. between December 1 and December 14. The timings change from December 15 when flights would arrive at 8.10 a.m. and depart at 1.10 p.m.
The decision by Air India has been welcomed by the members of the fast growing Indian-American community in Washington and adjoining areas, who have been demanding such a flight for several years."There was a demand for this flight from Washington DC and we are happy that our efforts have had a positive impact," said Mr Devashish Ray, Executive director of US Asian, a body of Asian communities.
"Air India wishes to thank USAsian for their sustained campaign in bringing this long-awaited need for flights from Dulles to India to a fruit-ful conclusion," the Chief of Air India in Washington DC. Mr Shrikant Gholt: said.
Source:
The Hindu Business Line
Date- 11 October 2009
Edition- New Delhi
The flight from India will arrive at 9.30 a.m. and depart from Dulles International Air-port at 12.10 p.m. between December 1 and December 14. The timings change from December 15 when flights would arrive at 8.10 a.m. and depart at 1.10 p.m.
The decision by Air India has been welcomed by the members of the fast growing Indian-American community in Washington and adjoining areas, who have been demanding such a flight for several years."There was a demand for this flight from Washington DC and we are happy that our efforts have had a positive impact," said Mr Devashish Ray, Executive director of US Asian, a body of Asian communities.
"Air India wishes to thank USAsian for their sustained campaign in bringing this long-awaited need for flights from Dulles to India to a fruit-ful conclusion," the Chief of Air India in Washington DC. Mr Shrikant Gholt: said.
Source:
The Hindu Business Line
Date- 11 October 2009
Edition- New Delhi
Thursday, October 1, 2009
AI plans to woo back passengers
For air passengers who have been haggling with the travel agents over high fares and low seat availability for the last four days due to Air India (AI) crisis – it is time to breathe easy.
The national carrier is working on special discount offers to woo back its lost passengers. “Yes, we are going to announce special discounts for our passengers. We are working on the details as in to what extent and which routes these discounts should be offered. The minimum discount will be 10 per cent,” a senior AI official, who did not wish to be named, said.
The carrier has lost over 50 per cent of its passengers in the five days of strike. It had stopped bookings from Monday night which opened only on Wednesday afternoon.
The focus is now to add new passengers. “People who were planning to travel immediately must have cancelled their bookings and must have got tickets of some other carriers. The discounted fares will help us gain back passengers who are going to fly in the next few days,” the AI official said.The passenger traffic for AI has come down to about 14,000 from about 33,000 in the normal days. The offer – likely to be announced by Thursday – will not have much impact on international bookings though.
“The international bookings are done much in advance. Once a passenger has cancelled his booking, it is unlikely that he will book his tickets before a month. So, it is difficult to win back those passengers,” he said.
The carrier has lost about Rs 130 crore in the last five days due to pilots strike. The huge cancellations in the booking have give equally significant traffic to the private carriers. While the usual seat factor for these airlines varies between 70-80 per cent during festival season, this went up to 90 per cent due to AI cancellations. “AI will have to offer special fares to attract customers. The carrier has lost about 70,000 passengers in the last five days. They will have to take initiatives to win them back,” Ankur Bhatia, executive director of Bird Group said.
It restarted operating long haul flights including Delhi-Frankfurt-Chicago, Mumbai-Franfurt-Newark, Mumbai-London, Delhi-London, Amritsar-London-Toronto and Ahmedabad-Frankfurt. For domestic routes, it has drawn up a flight restoration plan. It cancelled 111 flights on Wednesday in advance due to non availability of pilots. The flights will be gradually reinstated.
Source:
ChronicleDate- 1 October 2009
Edition- New Delhi
http://www.mydigitalfc.com/industrial-policy/ai-plans-woo-back-passengers-219
The national carrier is working on special discount offers to woo back its lost passengers. “Yes, we are going to announce special discounts for our passengers. We are working on the details as in to what extent and which routes these discounts should be offered. The minimum discount will be 10 per cent,” a senior AI official, who did not wish to be named, said.
The carrier has lost over 50 per cent of its passengers in the five days of strike. It had stopped bookings from Monday night which opened only on Wednesday afternoon.
The focus is now to add new passengers. “People who were planning to travel immediately must have cancelled their bookings and must have got tickets of some other carriers. The discounted fares will help us gain back passengers who are going to fly in the next few days,” the AI official said.The passenger traffic for AI has come down to about 14,000 from about 33,000 in the normal days. The offer – likely to be announced by Thursday – will not have much impact on international bookings though.
“The international bookings are done much in advance. Once a passenger has cancelled his booking, it is unlikely that he will book his tickets before a month. So, it is difficult to win back those passengers,” he said.
The carrier has lost about Rs 130 crore in the last five days due to pilots strike. The huge cancellations in the booking have give equally significant traffic to the private carriers. While the usual seat factor for these airlines varies between 70-80 per cent during festival season, this went up to 90 per cent due to AI cancellations. “AI will have to offer special fares to attract customers. The carrier has lost about 70,000 passengers in the last five days. They will have to take initiatives to win them back,” Ankur Bhatia, executive director of Bird Group said.
It restarted operating long haul flights including Delhi-Frankfurt-Chicago, Mumbai-Franfurt-Newark, Mumbai-London, Delhi-London, Amritsar-London-Toronto and Ahmedabad-Frankfurt. For domestic routes, it has drawn up a flight restoration plan. It cancelled 111 flights on Wednesday in advance due to non availability of pilots. The flights will be gradually reinstated.
Source:
ChronicleDate- 1 October 2009
Edition- New Delhi
http://www.mydigitalfc.com/industrial-policy/ai-plans-woo-back-passengers-219
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