Showing posts with label Air News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Air News. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

As an Air India pilot, Captain JK Verma has been on 6,500 flights. You can drop the "captain". Mr. Verma's been arrested for faking it.






After 6500 flights, it turns out he's not a pilot

New Delhi:  As an Air India pilot, Captain JK Verma has been on 6,500 flights. You can drop the "captain". Mr. Verma's been arrested for faking it. 





2 years ago, Mr. Verma bought his license for 12 lakhs. That involved forging mark-sheets with the help of a middleman. The fake documents allowed Mr. Verma to get a license from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the watchdog for the aviation sector.

To qualify as a commercial pilot in India, pilots need to show 1500 hours of flight training; they also have to pass three papers which test their knowledge of navigation, atmosphere and instruments used.

Last week, the police arrested another pilot named Parminder Kaur Gulati, who had been suspended by private carrier Indigo 2 months ago. Like Mr. Verma, she had used a broker to fake her mark-sheets.


Two other pilots who cheated to get their licenses are missing.

The police became aware of the imposter pilot when the DGCA filed a complaint with them.

The police inquiry will try to nail any DGCA officials who may have been a part of the racket.

Because Mr. Verma and Ms. Gulati outwitted the system during the same period in 2009-10, another 4000 licenses issued during this time are being reviewed by the DGCA.

The Aviation Ministry says that it's working on new systems that will involve greater verification of marks scored by applicants.

In the meantime, if your flight is bumpy, you're forgiven for thinking the turbulence may not be because of bad weather.




2. Mangalore air crash case goes to The Hague

Nearly a year after the Dubai-Mangalore Air India Express IX 812 crash in Bajpe that killed 159 passengers, the families of victims have decided to approach the international court for getting ‘the right compensation’ from Air India.

The families of the victims have jointly hired a Swedish advocate Stephen Ericson, a well-known authority in aviation accident compensation issues.

The president of the Air India Crash Victims’ Families Association Mohammad Beary said the compensation arbitrated by Mulla and Mulla company of Mumbai was not more than Rs50 lakh whereas the international norms recommends it closer to Rs1 crore. The compensation has to be paid in accordance with the Montreal Convention to which India was a signatory.

Every person who died in an air crash on an international flight was entitled to get a final compensation of $1,76,000 in the currency of the country where the air craft had crashed and at the prevailing exchange rate at the time of the disbursement of the compensation.

The vice-president of the association Narayanan said a few families have already approached the Kerala high court, making the Air India fully responsible, as a court of enquiry has already cited that pilot error has caused the crash at Bajpe.

3. I-League: Jeje smashes four past Air India

KOLHAPUR: When Okorgor Praise Nanna opened the scoring for Air India in the fifth minute in the 19th round clash of the I-League at Kolhapur, little would he have anticipated what would hit them.

Indian Arrows' Jeje then got picture and hit four goals. Manandeep Singh gave Arrows the equalizer in the 7th minute but then Jeje scored two in four minutes as Arrows held a healthy 3-1 lead by the 15th minute.

His other two goals came in the second half before Okorgor reduced the margin of Arrows' victory in added-on time.

Churchill win

Boima scored in the 76 th minute as Churchill Brothers maintained the pressure on leaders Salgaocar with a comfortable win over Viva Kerala. Churchill have 23 points, five points behind Salgaocar who have played two matches less.

Last-gasp winner for Pune

Keita scored in the final moments of the game as Pune FC kept their thrust for thetitle going with a 1-0 over ONGC at Balewadi, Pune. Pune FC move to 22 points from 18 games. Pune, who finished third in their debut season, have not come up with the kind of results they would be hoping.

Prakash spoils Chirag party.

RC Prakash dashed Chirag United's party with a last-minute equalizer, which gave the Aircraftsmen one crucial point to keep alive their hopes of remaining in the I-League.

In fact, Chirag paid the penalty for their complacency as they clung onto a solitary goal lead - Joshimar's 74th minute strike - till the end. However, Prakash was brought down by Sukhen Dey in the 90th minute that awarded HAL a penalty. Prakash made no mistake in sealing a draw from the spot.





4. 'Air India's possible entry into Star Alliance will boost rev'

India's national carrier Air India's expected entry into the elite Star Alliance later this year will expand its global footprint and boost its revenues, according to the airline's Frankfurt-based Regional Manager for Central Europe Ratan Bali. The last major hurdle for Star Alliance membership was


removed when Air India and the Indian Airlines completed the integration of their codes and began using a common code two weeks ago, Bali told PTI at the travel trade show ITB Berlin.
The world's biggest fair, which kicked off on March 9, concludes on Sunday.

A common code for both the airlines was a condition for Air India to join the alliance, he added.

The airline also started using a new reservation system in preparation of joining the alliance.

Star Alliance network is a global leading airline network, in terms of daily flights, destinations and countries flown to and member airlines.

It was established in 1997 to offer customers worldwide reach and a smooth travel experience. In order to become a member, an airline must comply with the highest industry standards of customer service, security and technical infrastructure.

Bali said the planned delivery of the first batch of Boeing 787 'Dreamliner' aircraft to Air India later this year will also play a crucial role in expanding the airline's international operations.

These aircrafts, which have an eight-hour flight range, could be deployed in the Indo-European or Indo-far East sectors, he added.

Air India has placed orders for 27 'Dreamliners' and Boeing had recently announced that the first batch of aircraft will be delivered by the end of this year.

Talking about revenue, he said Air India has recouped its revenue losses from the closure of the European Hub at the Frankfurt airport last year, by increasing the passenger volume and reducing its operational costs in Frankfurt.

As part of its operational restructuring process, the airline rerouted four flights operating from Delhi to Chicago and from Mumbai to New York via Frankfurt airport as direct flights on the India-US routes.

It closed down its European hub in Frankfurt at the end of last year. Since then, the airline has been operating a daily non-stop flight between Delhi and Frankfurt. According to Bali, the loss of revenue for Air India due to the diversion of the four flights was "minimal" and was offset by a 70 per cent reduction in the operational costs in Frankfurt.

Air India lost some passengers after it took out four flights from the commercially important India-Germany route. But the loss of revenue was recovered by a higher utilisation of the seat capacity in the economy class and by increasing the number of first and executive class passengers on board the Boeing 777 200LR aircraft.

"The seat factor on these flights rose to 74 per cent," he said.

The diversion of the flights had very little impact on Air India's transatlantic traffic because the airline was already facing stiff competition from other major airlines on these routes.

Air India's passengers bound for the US or other destinations, however, could continue their journey from Frankfurt on board Lufthansa flights because of a code-sharing arrangement between the two airlines.

On expansion Bali said Air India plans to launch new flights connecting Frankfurt-Delhi service with Melbourne and Colombo.





By

NEHA JAIN

      

   

     



            
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Saturday, January 29, 2011

Bombardier didn't lose out to Airbus on massive Indian order.


MONTREAL - Bombardier's new CSeries planes didn't lose out to rival Airbus when an Indian discount carrier announced what could be the largest potential order in aviation history, Bombardier CEO Pierre Beaudoin said Friday.

Discount carrier IndiGo has signed a preliminary agreement to purchase 180 Airbus aircraft valued at US$15.6 billion.

But Beaudoin said Bombardier doesn't have a product large enough to compete with the Airbus A320, or its re-engined A320 neo.

"We don't make an airplane in this category so you can't win something if you don't have a product," Beaudoin said in an interview with an Indian television station in Davos, Switzerland.

IndiGo plans to configure the plane with more than 170 seats. The largest CSeries will have a maximum of 149 seats.

Nonetheless, Beaudoin said Montreal-based Bombardier is determined to tap into the massive growth of commercial aviation in India by selling its commercial planes, including the new CSeries.

"We think there's a huge market in India because (the CSeries) consumes 20 per cent less fuel than the best airplane on the market today and, given that fuel is so expensive in India, airlines will have a great benefit."

The CSeries will eventually compete with the smaller A319, which can be configured with 124 to 156 seats.

He said the Indian market should grow by more than 20 per cent a year. But the need to accommodate the dramatic growth is now pushing officials to develop sufficient air traffic control and airport infrastructure.

"So I think it's going to be a good period for Indian airlines."

Bombardier (TSX:BBD.B) has forecast India will take delivery of 600 commercial planes over the next 20 years in the 20- to 149-seat category and that India will account for 36 per cent of deliveries to the Asia-Pacific region, excluding China, during the period.

The addition of new regional airports are a great opportunity for Bombardier's Q400 turboprops. They can serve smaller runways, are 30 per cent more fuel efficient than jets and can allow airlines to increase the frequency of their service, he added.




By

NEHA JAIN
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Friday, January 28, 2011

Jeppesen, India’s Jet Airways Sign 5 Year EFB Class 2 Contract





Jeppesen recently agreed to a five-year electronic flight bag (EFB), tailored digital charting and navigation service renewal contract with Jet Airways, a leading commercial carrier based in India. 

The agreement provides Jeppesen solutions for Jet Airways and its subsidiary carriers Jetlite and Jetkonnect. The agreement includes Jeppesen FliteDeck Pro class 2 EFB services with an enroute situational awareness application, tailored digital charting services and NavData navigational information. 

Jeppesen services in the agreement help Jet Airways move closer to achieving its mission of operating in a paperless flight environment. Jeppesen FliteDeck Pro EFB services allow the airline to transmit seamless real time flight data between pilots and operations staff, including weather, maintenance logbooks and ground information in an integrated format to increase operational efficiency.

“We held productive meetings with the Directorate General Civil Aviation (DGCA) authority of India to implement our FliteDeck Pro EFB class 2 services with Jet Airways, which also clears us to provide similar options for other commercial carriers of India,” said Thomas Wede, Jeppesen senior vice president and general manager, Aviation. “We are pleased to continue our relationship with Jet Airways and we look forward to helping them operate more efficiently through enhanced digital navigation and operations solutions.”  

Jeppesen’s leading tailored airway manual charts for digital navigation are provided for Jet Airways in the agreement, through Web-based e-Link tailored charting services, presented in a Windows operating environment. “Jeppesen FliteDeck Pro EFB class 2 solutions will help us further integrate our operations to increase efficiency and improve overall safety,” said Capt. Hassan Al Mousawi, Jet Airways senior vice president, Flight Operations and On Time Performance. 

“We rely on Jeppesen’s leading navigational data and charts and we are looking forward to expanding implementation of Jeppesen EFB services for our entire fleet, which will help decrease the workload for our pilots and crew.”

 
Jet Airways is a major Indian airline based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is India's largest airline and the market leader in the domestic sector. It operates over 400 flights daily to 67 destinations worldwide. Its main hub is Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, with secondary hubs at Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Pune and Kolkatta. It has an international hub at Brussels Airport, Belgium. Jet Airways is owned by Naresh Goyal. 

 

   
Jet Airways operates a fleet of approximately 95 commercial aircraft, featuring Boeing 737 and 777 models.  Jet Airways operates flights to 24 international destinations and 47 domestic routes in India. 

For more than 75 years Jeppesen has made it possible for pilots and their passengers to safely and efficiently reach their destinations. Today this pioneering spirit continues as Jeppesen delivers essential information and optimization solutions to improve the efficiency of air, sea and rail operations around the globe. Jeppesen is a subsidiary of Boeing Commercial Aviation Services, a unit of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.




By

NEHA JAIN
www.aerosoft.in