Boeing to pay Air India $500 million in compensation because of delays in delivering 27 on-order 787 Dreamliners. The planemaker agreed to the payment two weeks ago, a Civil Aviation Ministry official told reporters at the Hyderabad air show in India today. The carrier may get further compensation as it previously asked for $840 million and it has since asked for more because of further delays, he added.
Boeing's Indian officials denied to comment on this matter.
Protesting delayed payment of salaries and allowances, a section of Air India pilots on Wednesday warned they would not undertake flying duties from April 1 if their dues were not cleared by then. The Indian Pilots Guild (IPG), which represents the pilots of pre-merger Air India, has shot off letters to Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh, Labour Minister Mallikarjun Kharge and others saying that a large number of its members had complained that financial distress could adversely affect their ability to safely discharge their duties and endanger lives.
Hence, its members "will be unable to operate flights on and after April 1, 2012, unless the management clears all the dues", IPG President Jeetendra Awhad said in the letter sent also to Air India CMD, Civil Aviation Secretary and Director General Civil Aviation.
India's Kingfisher Airlines Ltd plans to return some aircraft voluntarily to lessors after defaulting on payments and has seen a fresh exodus of pilots, local media reported. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has asked the struggling carrier to explain why it has cancelled a large number of flights since Saturday. Kingfisher will return two more Airbus A320s this month to their lessors, as their leases have been terminated because of payment defaults.
Of the 64 planes in its fleet, Kingfisher is using just over a dozen to operate flights currently. The Times of India newspaper said that 35 of Kingfisher's A320 commanders quit the airline on February 14, followed by another over the weekend. In all, about 300-350 pilots have quit the airline in the last six months, it said, without citing any sources. Kingfisher, controlled by liquor baron Vijay Mallya, has cancelled 32 out of the 240 flights that it operates each day, the airlines said on Saturday, adding that it expected to return to full service within days.
It looks like Indian airlines are not the only ones sweating under the pressure of high operating costs and increasing threats from the competition: even international carriers are feeling the heat and starting to cut capacity to India. That could mean bad news for passengers because ticket prices, at least on some international routes, could rise in the face of reduced competition.
On Monday, Austria’s largest airline, Austrian Airlines, which operates a global route network of around 130 destinations, said it is discontinuing flights in the Mumbai-Vienna sector from March 25 as the route has became unprofitable because of the challenging economic situation and intensifying competition from other airlines. Unless there is reform in the aviation sector, especially in the matters of jet fuel prices and undercutting of ticket prices by Air India, we’re likely to see more airlines cutting down their operations in India.
Austrian Airline’s CEO, Jaan Albrecht, said in a statement that, “From the summer of 2012 onwards, we shall be sharply increasing flight frequencies to our core markets in Eastern Europe, and building up capacity to the Middle East in a trade-off with the destination of Mumbai.” It’s not the only airline to cite problems with operating in India, which is one of the fastest-growing aviation markets in the world. Local carriers are already floundering massively operating on domestic routes. While passenger traffic has climbed in leaps and bounds in recent years, operating costs, cut-throat price wars and a skewed policy environment mean that more than 80 percent of Indian carriers are losing money. Kingfisher Airlines is a stark case in point.
Not surprisingly, even international airlines are wilting under the same set of pressures. According to a report in the Business Standard, global airline Air France announced that it is reducing its frequency to Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore to six flights a week, ostensibly to adjust with lower demand in summer, although it’s likely that tough operating conditions would also have played a part that decision. In the past year, more than five foreign airlines have withdrawn flights from the Mumbai and Delhi routes, citing high operating costs, including high airport and fuel charges. These include AirAsia, Air AsiaX, Thai AirAsia, FinnAir and Virgin Atlantic. Just last month, American Airlines announced it would discontinue its Delhi flights, while Lufthansa also halted its flights to Kolkata.
Other leading global airlines like British Airways, Air France-KLM and Lufthansa have also said they would rethink their plans of flying in and out of Delhi if airport charges are increased by a whopping 280 percent, according to the newspaper report. Unfortunately, it looks like their problems are just about to multiply because flying out of Mumbai could also get more expensive as the airport operator, MIAL, is in the process of acquiring 16 acres of nearby land, according to another Business Standard report. This expansion cost is likely to result in higher airport development fees, which currently stands at Rs 600 for an international passenger and Rs 100 for a domestic passenger.
Of course, we already know about high jet fuel prices: fuel costs account for nearly half the operating cost of domestic carriers. High sales tax on jet fuel is a big culprit here — about 24 percent , one of the highest in the world. There has been talk of allowing foreign carriers to take up to a 49 percent stake in local carriers, which might ease some financial pressure off local carriers. But what of international ones? Unless there is reform in the aviation sector, especially in the matters of jet fuel prices and undercutting of ticket prices by Air India, we’re likely to see more airlines cutting down their operations in India.
For fliers, that can only mean higher prices from the airlines that stay back.
India's Reliance Industries and France's Dassault Aviation have signed a pact for partnering in the defence and homeland security sector in Asia's third-largest economy, a spokesman for the Indian conglomerate said on Sunday. The accord comes less than two weeks after Dassault's Rafale warplanes emerged as the preferred bidder in a $15 billion contest to supply India with 126 fighter jets. India is the world's largest arms importer with plans to spend $100 billion on weapons over the next decade.
Reliance Industries, India's most-valuable company, did not give any further detail on the tie-up with the French company. Controlled by Mukesh Ambani, the world's ninth-richest man, Reliance Industries has been looking to diversify as growth in its core oil and gas business slows. The company has expanded into newer sector such as retail and telecom in recent years.
India's largest private airline Jet Airways and budget carrier GoAir are in line to order $6.5 billion worth of Airbus aircraft at the forthcoming Paris Air Show, The Economic Times reported on Thursday. The financial daily quoted Jet chairman Naresh Goyal as saying that they were buying 10 A330 aircraft worth $2.5 billion as part of plans to expand its routes in Europe. GoAir is looking to order at least 50 narrow-body A320 jets worth $4 billion for short-haul domestic routes, which will be brought into service as soon as next year, the report said, quoting two sources familiar with the matter.
Both orders were still being negotiated but were in the final stages, the newspaper added, quoting unnamed sources within Airbus. A Jet Airways spokeswoman in New Delhi told AFP that she had no details on the exact nature of the orders, as Goyal was speaking on the sidelines of the recent International Air Transport Association annual general meeting in Singapore. But she added: "We're asking for just a few (aircraft) because that's in line and keeping with our growth plan."
No one was immediately available for comment at GoAir. The Economic Times said budget airline IndiGo would also push ahead with a previously announced order for 180 A320 aircraft with an estimated value of $15 billion, after signing a memorandum of understanding with Airbus last year. Air India, the state-run national carrier, is planning to take 10 A330s and 16 A320s on a rental basis, it added. Aviation has taken off in India in recent years but private airlines have been grappling with rising fuel prices and a slowdown in economic growth that has hit business.
India's Kingfisher Airlines is looking to lease both wide-body and narrow-body aircraft to meet an unanticipated surge in demand as the domestic economy recovers more quickly than expected, the company's chairman, Vijay Mallya, said on Monday. Mallya also told reporters on the sidelines of the International Air Transport Association's annual meeting in Singapore that the company had revived a plan to sell Global Depository Receipts, taking higher oil prices into calculation. Asked if Kingfisher's current capacity was enough to cater to the projected increase in demand, he said: "Not quite, that is why we are looking for leased capacity.
"Kingfisher at one time had several aircraft that were on order from Airbus for delivery in 2010 and 2011. During the 2008-2009 crisis, I actually postponed the delivery of those aircraft to 2012 and 2013," Mallya said. "So right now we are looking for capacity, but our own new deliveries will start in about 18 months." He said he was looking to lease both narrow-body and wide-body aircraft. "We have been experiencing for the last six months unprecedented load factors, which I have never seen in the last six years," Mallya said. "We are running at mid to high 80 percent on every flight, which is extremely healthy."
According to its website, Kingfisher has 66 aircraft, mostly Airbus jets and ATR turbo-prop variants. It has more than 125 planes on order. Loss-making Kingfisher, India's second-largest airline by market share, has restructured its debt by converting almost INR12 billion rupees (USD$268 million) of loans into equity. Its current debt stands at about INR60 billion rupees. Last month, it reported a net loss of INR10.27 billion rupees in the fiscal year ending March 31, versus a loss of INR16.47 billion rupees the year before. But it had positive EBITDA amounting to INR1.4 billion rupees, the company says. "We reported significantly improved numbers and EBITDA profit for the first time. This is a sign of things to come," Mallya said.
He said the company had also revived a proposal to sell GDRs of USD$250 million - USD$350 million, but gave few details. "We had an excellent roadshow for our GDR in January and early February this year and we presented a compelling business plan." He said the plan assumed crude oil at USD$90 per barrel. "The minute crude oil prices started going up to USD$120 plus per barrel, prospective investors asked us to rework our business plans, which we did."
The flamboyant Mallya, who controls the United Breweries Group, owns a Grand Prix motor racing team and a team in India's cricket league, said Kingfisher's growth should be enhanced as it joins the oneworld airline alliance, which also includes Cathay Pacific, British Airways and Qantas. "The opportunities to leverage this alliance are huge," he said, adding that Kingfisher would become a fully operational member by 2012. "We see this as being a contributor of about 5-6 percent of enhanced revenue to us."
He said Kingfisher was continuing to lobby the government to allow foreign airlines to take stakes in Indian carriers. "Airlines in India must raise capital and the opportunity to raise capital from foreign airlines must not be excluded and that's why we will continue to request the government of India to reconsider its foreign direct investment policy." Kingfisher flies to eight international destinations and to more than 50 towns and cities in India. Its fleet of turboprop aircraft will help it to respond to the pattern of wealth creation in India, Mallya added. "There is a lot of wealth in tier-2 and tier-3 cities that is being created," he said. "It is no longer a situation where wealth in India is restricted to the big metro cities, so it offers a huge amount of opportunity. "Kingfisher is well positioned because it has a large number of ATR aircraft which are ideal to service the emerging demand in tier-2 and tier-3 cities," he said.
A woman pilot has been arrested in the capital for allegedly using a forged marksheet of the DGCA test to procure a commercial pilot licence. Parminder Kaur Gulati, a suspended pilot of Indigo, was apprehended by a team of Delhi Police's crime branch yesterday following investigations into a complaint filed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Gulati allegedly produced the forged marksheets of DGCA Airline Transport Pilot Licence (ATPL) test to get the commercial pilot licence. With ATPL, one can become a co-pilot; and to get a full-fledged commercial pilot licence one should have ATPL with adequate flying hours.
Sources said Gulati had allegedly produced forged marksheets of the ATPL examination conducted by the DGCA. She holds a valid commercial pilot licence. Last year, during a flight landing in Goa by Gulati, technical errors were noticed and DGCA had constituted an enquiry to look into it. Sources said, during investigations it came to light that Gulati had allegedly forged marksheets of the ATPL examination, following which she was suspended by the airlines.
After the chilling incident last month were a Indigo A320 almost crashed in Goa International airport by its lady Captain, a passenger of the same airliner refuses to take the flight just because his Captain was another lady pilot.
A Mumbai-bound flight was delayed by one-and-a-half hours at the Delhi airport yesterday morning -- first by fog and then by a passenger who did not want to travel on a plane piloted by a woman. Passengers on board had a curious story to tell as to why Indigo flight 6E 179, supposed to depart at 8.10 a.m., could not take off before 9.40 a.m. "First the flight was held up by a slight fog. Then, just when we were about to fly, the doors were opened again at around 9 as a middle-aged man seated a couple of seats away from me objected to a woman piloting the plane", one of the passenger on board flight 6E 179.
The man apparently turned jittery after the customary flight announcement was made, giving the pilot's name - it was a woman."The man first started grumbling to co-passengers, 'I don't want to die! She can't take care of the house, how will she take care of a plane?' . "He called the airhostesses and objected to the woman pilot. Ground staff were called and they took him out of the plane. This situation did not change for nearly 40 minutes even as other passengers became restless and upset." The man relented only after he was told he would be taken off the plane -- with his check in baggage.
On January 11, when IndiGo Airlines’ flight 6E 333 had a bumpy touchdown at Goa International Airport, it was a close brush with disaster for over 100 passengers aboard the A 320. The woman pilot in command landed the plane on its fragile nose wheel — an erroneous manoeuvre that could have even led to the flying machine disintegrating and catching fire.
Alarmingly, an inquiry conducted later by the Director General of Civil Aviation ( DGCA) revealed that on 15 to 20 earlier occasions, Captain Parminder Kaur Gulati landed the aircraft at an angle indicating that the nose wheel may have touched the tarmac first. This is unheard of in aviation circles. Aircraft normally land on the main landing gear ( MLG), comprising the two sets of rear wheels. After these bigger — and sturdier — wheels touch the runway, the speed of the plane is reduced. This is followed by the already opened nose landing gear ( NLG) — the smaller front wheel just below the cockpit of the aircraft — coming in contact with the surface.
Flight 6E 333 took off from Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi and was bound for Goa. Abhas Gupta was Gulati’s copilot aboard the aircraft. Captain Gulati appeared to have been so oblivious to the abnormal and highly risky touchdown at the Goa International Airport that she just reported the incident as a “rough landing”. Not only did the steep descent leave the passengers’ hearts in their mouths, it went against the recommendations of aircraft manufacturer Airbus, too. This was not the end of the matter.
After the rough landing in Goa, Gulati and the engineer concerned merely carried out an inspection of the aircraft and reported that everything was normal. The airbus was, therefore, cleared to fly back to Delhi. The Indigo flight 6E 332 — with passengers on board — started its return journey to Delhi. But midway through, the plane’s electronic systems signalled a problem in the landing gear. The warning related to the nose undercarriage being internally damaged.
The electronic signal that flashed in the cockpit showed that the landing gear didn’t retract because it was stuck in the “ down position”. The Indigo aircraft had to then return to Goa to offload the passengers. Later, it took off from Goa without the passengers and landed at IGI Airport. The combined probe carried out by the DGCA, Airbus and IndiGo confirmed that the aircraft had landed on the NLG first, followed by the MLG. “This is a non- conventional landing,” the report accessed by MAIL TODAY said.
Gulati’s flying history came under the scanner of the investigators. An analysis of the digital flight data recorder ( DFDR) of the aircraft she previously flew pointed out that in her 15- 20 earlier landings the ‘ touchdown attitude’ was 3.8 degrees, which went against the recommended attitude of 5.8 degrees. Though within the safety zone, this increased the chances of the nose wheel touching first, the report stated.
The standard glide angle followed by an aircraft during descent is 3 degrees and the nose of the aircraft should be at 2.5 degrees at the horizon level. Just before touchdown, the latter is increased to 5 degrees. However, in the IndiGo flight’s case, the pilot gave a negative pitch attitude and reduced the angle to 3.8 degrees resulting in the aircraft landing on the NLG. The report disclosed that the auto pilot was disconnected at 311 feet above ground level. At 100 feet, the captain gave a pitch- up command to ensure that the MLG touched the runway first.
“At the last moment (around 10- 20 feet), the captain gave a nose- down input. This resulted in a negative pitch attitude during touchdown,” the document revealed. The regulator (DGCA) and the investigation board recommended that the pilot should be sent on correctional training. IndiGo CEO Aditya Ghosh admitted that the pilot had landed the aircraft on its nose wheel. He further claimed that all the recommendations made by IndiGo pertaining to the incident had been accepted by the DGCA.
“Indigo conducted an investigation and the inquiry board recommended that the captain should be sent on training to correct her landing technique. She was also advised to undertake a cockpit resource management refresher course as well as a route check. She has already undergone these procedures,” Ghosh said.
Significantly, the lady captain has earlier been counselled for a serious error in the go- around approach during a landing at the IGI Airport. Commenting on the incident, aviation expert Captain A. Ranganathan said: “The nose wheel can’t take the impact of landing. The pilot’s landing on the plane’s nose could have led to serious consequences. The episode shows there was a deficiency in training.” Former DGCA Kanu Gohain also felt that it was a very serious incident since the NLG is the weakest part of the aircraft and not designed to handle its landing weight. For the passengers, it was nothing less than a miraculous escape.
The growing list of billionaires in India is an enticing prospect for executive jet makers seeking to recover from a slump in demand caused by the global financial crisis. Prominent among exhibitors at the ongoing Aero India 2011 air show in Bangalore were manufacturers such as US-based Gulfstream and Brazil's Embraer -- both hoping to seduce corporate high-flyers with their luxury private planes. The global private jet market had a hard landing in 2008-09, with jet prices plunging by up to 30 percent and actual flying time falling by an estimated 40 percent. But India's fast-growing economy minted 17 new billionaires in 2010, driving the total to a record 69, according to Forbes magazine's list of the world's wealthiest individuals.
The country's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, reportedly gifted his wife a $60 million Airbus, complete with entertainment cabins and showers, for her birthday in 2007. Jose Eduardo Costas, vice president of Asia sales for Embraer, said the Brazilian firm had a host of orders lined up. "A private jet is not a Ferrari or a luxury boat. It's a business tool and the market here realises that," he said.
"Five of our aircraft are already with the government and four with private companies, and in the next three years we will be making 30 deliveries of our jets." Gulfstream said there were 17 of its aircraft in India by the end of last year, up from just five in 2001, adding that 12 of them were large-cabin models including the G550, which has a range of 12,000 kilometres (7,500 miles).
"We see great long-term potential in the Indian market as infrastructure for business aviation expands and government officials focus more on this segment," said Roger Sperry, Gulfstream's senior vice-president for international sales.
According to figures from aviation data firm JetNet, new business jet deliveries to the wider Asia-Pacific region grew from 7.0 percent of the world market in 2007 to 12 percent in 2009.
JetNet cited India as having the second-largest fleet in the region, with 143 business aircraft of all sorts -- a sign of the country's growing presence in the top-end luxury goods market. Cessna Aircraft Co. set up shop four years ago in Bangalore and industry experts say the Kansas-based manufacturer leads its private jet competitors in India. "India is important to Cessna and the expanding economy should soon support a robust business aircraft fleet and infrastructure," said Cessna's vice president for international sales, Trevor Esling.
He declined to give details of orders the company has on hand or the number of planes delivered, but said: "By 2025 I would expect India to be in the top 10 individual countries for business jet ownership outside the United States."
India will hold its largest air show starting February 9 in Bangalore where 30 countries would bring their latest aerospace products including fighter jets and transport and civilian aircraft. The eighth edition of the biennial Aero India being held from February 9 to 13 is expected to surpass all previous editions of the premiere air show in terms of participation and volume, Secretary Defence Production Raj Kumar Singh said here.
Registering an increase of over 20 per cent in terms of participation from the last edition, this year 675 exhibitors will showcase their aerospace merchandise and products in 75,000 sq metre area at the Yelahanka air base in Bangalore.
He said for the first time in the five-day show, the participation of civilian sector would be more than defence companies as 55 per cent of the exhibitors would be from the civilian aerospace sector.
Singh said invites have been extended to 64 countries to send their official delegations to attend the show and 45 of them are expected to visit.
USA, France, Germany, UK, Russia, Italy, Belgium and Israel are the top eight participating countries.
A total of 93 domestic and international aircraft including the Su-30MKI, Mirage-2000 and Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas would take part in the show.
For the first time, the indigenously-developed Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) would also be put on static display.
Other aircraft on the display would be Eurofighter, Advance Light Helicopter (ALH), Light Combat Helicopter, Gripen, F-16, Rafale and Ka-226T choppers.
In the flying displays, the main attraction this year would be the Austrian ''Red Bull'' aerobatic display team which will perform along with the Suryakiran Aerobatic Team (SKAT) and the Sarang helicopter display team.
Apart from the Russian MiG 35, all the contenders in the race to supply 126 Medium-Multirole Combat Aircraft (M-MRCA) to the IAF would be present.
This includes the American F-16 and F/A-18-E/F, Swede Saab Gripen, French Rafale and the European Eurofighter.
Indian budget carrier SpiceJet does not need to raise capital to fund its aircraft purchases from Bombardier, its chief executive said on Friday.
SpiceJet in November agreed to buy up to 30 Nextgen turboprop aircraft from Bombardier for about USD$915 million. The initial order was for 15 planes.
The company, India's most profitable airline, will fund the purchase through cash in hand and credit, Neil Mills said in an interview. "From our point of view, we are looking at predominantly export credit funding... We are posting profits, options for funding have grown," Mills said. "We are not looking at additional capital raising in the short term." he added. Mills said he expects the company to grow "well beyond" the industry average of 14-16 percent over the next 12-18 months, and load factor to exceed 80 percent in FY11. SpiceJet will add 13 new planes to its current fleet of 25 planes in 2011, Mills said. "I think budget airlines will grow at a big proportion. We are not only growing at the market pace, we are actually outpacing that." SpiceJet, which operates two international routes as of now, may add one or two more by summer, Mills said. "We are not looking too far away from India. going International is not a prime focus of our business," Mills said.
Indian carrier Jet Airways expects to grow its domestic revenue by 15 percent and international revenue by up to 20 percent over the next five years, the chairman of India's largest airline said on Thursday. The airline expects higher demand driven by increasing affluence in Asia's third-largest economy, but has no plans of placing big aircraft orders, Naresh Goyal said. A day after smaller rival IndiGo placed a USD$15.6 billion order to buy 180 planes from Airbus in the largest jet deal in commercial aviation history, Goyal said Jet is following a "relatively modest" aircraft acquisition strategy. "Aircraft orders are not a problem... It's the easiest thing to do; but, can your balance sheet support it?" he asked.
Many carriers are growing their fleet as demand booms in India, where the economy is growing at nearly 9 percent. Jet Airways has firmed up an order pipeline of 29 Boeing 737s for purchase, and another 10 Airbus A330s for lease. The deliveries for both types of aircraft are expected to start in April 2012 and would continue over three years, Goyal said. Jet has placed another order for 10 Boeing 787s, deliveries of which are seen starting in fiscal year 2015, he said. Low-cost carrier and smaller rival SpiceJet in November agreed to buy 30 Nextgen turboprop aircraft from Canada's Bombardier for USD$915 million. "We have to be very careful in adding capacity... We are not running after market share and have to ensure that the bottom-line is alright," he said. Jet has added capacity of 8 to 10 percent over the last three years, he said. While passenger traffic in India grew 19 percent in the year to November last year, the country only has 400 commercial planes for a population of about 1.2 billion. By comparison, China has 2,600 planes. Jet Airways has no plans to hedge its jet fuel requirements and expects to improve its operating margins. "As we grow, our cost of operations per unit (aircraft) will go down hence we hope to increase our profitability," Goyal said.
India's IndiGo has signed a deal for the largest jet order in aviation history, Airbus announced Tuesday. It's also the first order for Airbus' re-engined A320. IndiGo, India's largest low-cost airline, signed a memorandum of understanding to buy 30 A320s and 150 A320neos -- the A320 new engine option that Airbus launched Dec. 1, with entry into service set for 2016. "It is the largest single firm order number for large jets in commercial aviation history, and also makes IndiGo a launch customer for the A320neo," Airbus said. The order will continue to allow IndiGo to offer low fares, while reducing its costs and improving environmental performance, airline co-founders Rakesh Gangwal and Rahul Bhatia said in a news release. Airbus says the A320neo will use up to 15 percent less fuel than existing A320s, cutting up to 3,600 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year, with a double-digit reduction in nitrous oxide emissions and reduced engine noise. Airbus is offering both CFM International LEAP-X engines and Pratt & Whitney PurePower PW1100G engines on the A320neo. The release said IndiGo would select engines at a later date. IndiGo already had ordered 100 A320s through Nov. 30, 2010 and received 37 of those, according to Airbus. John Leahy, Airbus' chief operating officer, customers, said: "This order positions IndiGo to take full advantage of the predicted growth in Indian air travel and we are delighted that they continue to build their future with Airbus."
Inching closer to modernisation with self sufficiency, India's first homegrown supersonic fighter jet, the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) 'Tejas', was handed over to the IAF by Defence minister, A K Antony after the Initial Operational Clearance. The LCA, which has remained under development for nearly three decades and braved technology denial regimes, has achieved the significant milestone in the presence of Defence Minister A K Antony and Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal P V Naik. Post clearance, the LCA will now take several flying missions and after that it will have to obtain its Final Operational Clearance (FOC) to be finally inducted into operational service, which is likely to happen by the end of 2012, Ministry officials said.
The IAF has plans to deploy the aircraft at one of its bases in Bangalore to do away with the "teething problems" in association with its designers and manufacturers, both of whom are based out of Bangalore. Being India's much-awaited project, LCA design and development by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) was initiated in 1983 with a budget of Rs 560 crore. Nicknamed 'Tejas' in 2004, the LCA designing had been launched in 1985 by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) under the DRDO with HAL as the nodal manufacturing agency.The aircraft's development was affected by the US sanctions imposed in 1998 also led to delay in importing some items and developing alternate equipment, since vendors identification and development to production cycle took time. Now the IAF intends to induct two squadrons in IOC mode by the middle of 2011. The IAF had first placed the orders for 40 LCAs in March 2005.
The first 40 LCAs will be powered by the American General Electric GE-F404 engines. A total of 99 such engines are to be purchased under the deal with General Electric. IAF also has plans to induct five more squadrons (100 aircraft) in the coming years but with a more powerful engine, the announcement for which came in 2009. The government had a couple of months ago chosen GE-F414 as the new engine for future LCAs after rejecting its competitor Eurojet's EJ200 engine. The IAF may ultimately have around 200 LCAs (10 squadrons) in its fleet, primarily to replace the ageing Russian MiG-21 and MiG-27 fighter jets. IAF will base the first of its LCA squadrons at its Sulur air base near Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu.
India will observe the year beginning February 18, 2011 as the Civil Aviation Centenary Year.On this date in 1911, the first commercial plane flew in India between Allahabad and Naini. An official press release said here today that, during these 100 years, India had become the ninth largest civil aviation market in the world and is now poised to become one of the three largest markets in the world by 2020. The release said the Ministry of Civil Aviation has set up a high-level committee chaired by Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel to deliberate on the scale and modalities of the celebrations. The committee includes former Civil Aviation Ministers Ghulam Nabi Azad, Sharad Yadav, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Shahnawaz Hussain and Anant Kumar; eminent Indians who have contributed to Indian civil aviation like Mr. Rakesh Sharma, first Indian cosmonaut, Mr. Vijaypath Singhania, Air Marshal Arjan Singh, Ms. Saudamini Deshmukh, the first lady pilot in the commander’s seat in India, Mr Satish Sharma, MP and Chairman of Aeroclub of India, Captain G. Gopinath, Mr Dipinder Hooda, MP, Mr Naveen Jindal, MP, Secretaries of the Ministries of Civil Aviation, Defence and Tourism, Chairpersons of all Indian airlines, Chairpersons of all Indian airports, CMD Pawan Hans, Chairman ISRO, representatives of Tour and Travel Operators, eminent pilots, representatives of IGRUA, NFTI, NAL, HAL, BCAS, DGCA and the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
The release said the committee would deliberate upon the period of celebrations, formulate an action plan for the entire year, decide on events which may be undertaken during the centenary year, decide on locations for these events, co-opt members to broaden the membership base, locate appropriate budgetary sources to finance the celebrations, assign responsibilities to individuals and institutions for the organization of events, and constitute Organizing Committees for conduct of events. Activities likely to be taken up during the year include air shows, establishment of an air and space theme park or museum, release of a postage stamp by the President, issue of commemorative coins, publication of a coffee table book, establishment of an aviation university, exhibitions, felicitation of eminent people, institution of annual civil aviation awards and air craft modeling competitions for students. The private sector, which is a make stakeholder in the civil aviation sector, will be major partners in the celebrations, the release added.
The government is being forced to, once again, look at India’s troubled national carrier. It has accumulated losses of over Rs 5,500 crore; Public Enterprises Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said on Thursday after meeting Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel that they both agreed the airline needed to approach the Board for Reconstruction of Public Sector Enterprises. This is on top of the Rs 1,200 crore equity infusion the airline has asked for from the government.The airline might have begun to look like a money sink. If it has, then the government cannot escape the blame. Air India has been made to take on more loans than it should have, since the government was party to its buying $11 bn worth of planes instead of the politically difficult decision to shut it down. While reform of its wage bill which the civil aviation ministry accepts has made “little progress” thanks to “the probability of industrial unrest” remains necessary, given its balance sheet, even a tweak of the 17 per cent of its operating costs that are wages and salaries will not be sufficient. The government will need to take much larger steps than it appears comfortable doing. Air India has huge debts and a minuscule equity even if the airline was run like the world’s best, it has no hope of servicing the debt with its equity base.It remains this newspaper’s conviction that a decision about Air India’s future should be taken rationally, with minimal emotion. This is not the 1970s. National carriers serve little public purpose; the mushrooming of private sector airlines, together with some minimal, light regulation of tariffs and routes, has ensured that India’s citizens, regardless of location, are far better connected by air than they ever were earlier. Nor do we need Air India to be a visible, iconic brand internationally. India’s soft power rests on the inventiveness and efficiency of its private sector; we can leave the branding exercise to them. As the government sits down to decide what to do with Air India, a drearily familiar exercise, it should not fool itself that some tinkering will be enough. The only real choices are big, big steps: fix what you ruined, or shut it down.
Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., Qantas Airways Ltd. and Emirates Airline are awaiting deliveries of about 400 planes to capitalize on Asia’s rising prosperity. Finding pilots is the next job.
Boeing Co. expects the region’s carriers to be the biggest buyers of twin-aisle planes as travel grows in China and India, home to a combined 1.1 billion middle-class people. Asia-Pacific airlines will buy about 8,000 planes worth $1.2 trillion over the next 20 years, Airbus SAS said. Airlines worldwide need an average of 49,900 pilots a year from 2010 to 2030 as fleets expand, yet current training capacity is only 47,025, according to the International Civil Aviation Organization in Montreal. That is sparking bidding wars as Emirates offers tax-free salaries and four-bedroom villas for captains, and AirAsia Bhd., the region’s biggest budget airline, gives tuition-free training. “It’s a major issue and will be a big challenge to the industry’s growth,” said Binit Somaia, a Sydney-based analyst for the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation. “Even if you can find the pilots, you have to pay top dollar for them because they are so scarce.”
China, the world’s fastest-growing major aviation market, likely will account for a third of the region’s orders, Airbus, the world’s biggest aircraft maker, said in February. Its economy will grow 10.5 percent this year, compared with world growth of 4.6 percent, according to International Monetary Fund estimates.
India, with estimated growth of 9.4 percent this year, may overtake China as the world’s fastest-growing major economy as early as 2013, according to Morgan Stanley.
This year, the region’s carriers ordered 133 commercial jets with more than 100 seats, or 23 percent of the global total, according to Ascend Worldwide Ltd., a London-based aviation forecaster and data provider.
“There will be a shortage of pilots, and this is going to last for a while because it takes time to produce a good pilot,” said Elmer Pena, president of the Airline Pilots Association of the Philippines.
Philippine Airlines Inc. canceled flights in July and August and rebooked passengers after losing 27 pilots to higher paying jobs abroad.
The demand in Asia contrasts with the 4,500 U.S. airline pilots on furlough, according to figures compiled by Kit Darby, a retired United Airlines pilot now running an Atlanta-based consulting firm.
That situation shouldn’t last long. The global fleet of cargo and large passenger planes will double to nearly 32,000 by 2028 from 15,750 last year, according to Airbus.
The major U.S. airlines are expected to hire more than 40,000 pilots in the next 12 years, said Louis Smith, president of FltOps.com, which provides career counseling services and sponsors job fairs.
World passenger traffic is expected to increase an average of 4.7 percent a year between 2009 and 2028, according to Airbus.
Emirates is the largest Arab airline with more than 200 planes on order. It aims to recruit 250 pilots this year and double that number in 2011, it said in a statement.
The company, which needs more than $28 billion through 2017 for expansion, sought to recruit in Houston, Madrid and Singapore.
Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong’s biggest carrier, will recruit 1,000 people, including crew, Chief Operating Officer John Slosar said. PT Garuda Indonesia placed a newspaper advertisement last month seeking pilots “fluent in English and of good character.” Jetstar, the budget arm of Qantas, plans to recruit 120 more pilots by next summer.
Singapore Airlines Ltd. and AirAsia, based near Kuala Lumpur, set up their own tuition-free training academies. Singapore Air’s flying college graduates about 150 cadet pilots a year, while AirAsia’s facility trains as many as 500 a year.
Graduates must stay with the budget carrier for five years, AirAsia Chief Executive Officer Tony Fernandes said.
New flight schools also are opening. CAPA is investing at least $125 million to build an aerospace university in India that can train about 300 pilots a year, Somaia said.
The shortage, and hiring by a new crop of budget carriers, also could push wages higher.
“There is a misconception that low-cost airlines pay lower salaries,” said Tony Davis, chief executive officer of budget carrier Tiger Airways Holdings Ltd., part-owned by Singapore Air “We couldn’t do that in a competitive market.”
Basic pay for Singapore Air captains flying twin-aisle Boeing 777s or the Airbus A330s begin at S$9,300 ($6,870) a month, excluding allowances, said P. James, president of the Air Line Pilots Association of Singapore. They also earn a productivity allowance of as much as S$3,800 for flying 70 hours a month.
Emirates offers a starting monthly salary of 34,410 dirhams ($9,370) for captains, according to its website. That excludes benefits such as hourly flying and productivity payments.
Its other perks include a tax-free basic salary, profit sharing, villas for captains and free dry cleaning of uniforms, its website said. Those incentives help attract candidates to an increasingly demanding job, said Barry Jackson, president of the Australian and International Pilots Association, who has been a pilot at Qantas since 1987.
“Young people these days prefer to become doctors or lawyers,” he said. “This sort of career path is becoming less desirable.”
Indian budget carrier IndiGo has received the government's nod to buy 150 aircraft over the next 2 to 3 years as it looks to fly international routes, a company executive said on Wednesday. IndiGo will have completed five years of operations in August 2011, which makes it eligible to fly overseas routes. "We will look at all the manufacturers," Rahul Bhatia, group managing director of parent InterGlobe Enterprises, told reporters. He did not say how much the company aimed to spend on the planes. India's expanding aviation sector, which has close to a dozen carriers, are looking to add to their fleet as the booming economy revives the market for air travel. Boeing, which competes with Airbus to sell planes in India, estimates the country will buy 1,150 commercial jets valued at $130 billion over the next 20 years. IndiGo had hired four banks for an initial public offering to raise about $400 million.
