Last-minute fares on key routes have jumped up to 25% since Thursday when low-cost carrier SpiceJet grounded its Boeing 737 Max fleet, which further curtailed the capacity of the domestic airlines. Spot fares on trunk routes like Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Bengaluru and Delhi-Chennai are up 20-25% since March 13, according to data provided by Yatra.com, when the […]
Category: Civil Aviation
FAA’s close ties to Boeing questioned after 2 deadly crashes
WASHINGTON: For more than six decades, the Federal Aviation Administration has relied on employees of airplane manufacturers to do government-required safety inspections as planes are being designed or assembled. But critics say the system, dubbed the “designee program,” is too cozy as company employees do work for an agency charged with keeping the skies safe […]
Regulators challenge Boeing to prove its Max jets are safe
Washington: Aviation regulators worldwide laid down a stark challenge for Boeing to prove that its grounded 737 Max jets are safe to fly amid suspicions that faulty software might have contributed to two crashes that killed 346 people in less than six months. In a key step toward unearthing the cause of the Ethiopian Airlines […]
Boeing 737 MAX software patch expected before end March: Sources
SINGAPORE/PARIS: Boeing Co plans to release upgraded software for its 737 MAX in a week to 10 days, sources familiar with the matter said. The U.S. plane maker has been working on a software upgrade for an anti-stall system and pilot displays on its fastest-selling jetliner in the wake of the deadly Lion Air crash […]
Boeing promised software fix last year, but airlines are still waiting
Weeks after a deadly crash involving a Boeing plane in October, company officials met separately with the pilot unions at Southwest Airlines and American Airlines. The officials said they planned to update the software for their 737 Max jets, the plane involved in the disaster, by around the end of 2018. It was the last […]
Passengers rage over disruptions at Jet Airways
NEW DELHI: India’s embattled Jet AirwaysNSE -1.11 % put photographs of smiling women employees on social media last week for Women’s Day, using the tagline “Standing tall; touching the skies” but few passengers reacted cheerfully. “‘Touching the skies’ is a good joke at a time when your flights are getting grounded,” said a respondent on […]
Some lessors to end deals with Jet, prepare to fly planes out of India: Sources
NEW DELHI/SINGAPORE: Some lessors of India’s Jet AirwaysNSE -1.11 % have begun terminating lease deals over unpaid dues and are preparing to move the leased planes abroad, escalating a crisis for the cash-strapped carrier, five sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Two lessors have applied to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), […]
Jet Airways crisis: SBI hopeful of resolution next week
A consortium of lenders led by the State Bank of India (SBI) should reach a final resolution plan to rescue embattled Jet AirwaysNSE -1.11 % in the next one week, an SBINSE 2.23 % official said on Friday. Grappling with a debt of more than $1 billion, Jet has delayed payments to banks, lessors, vendors […]
AirAsia to launch Mumbai-Kolkata daily flight from Apr 15
Low cost carrier, AirAsia India Friday announced the launch of its flight services to Kolkata from the city next month. This would be airline’s second destination from Mumbai after it started operating daily services to Bengaluru from the country’s financial capital. AirAsia India will now fly connecting Kolkata and Mumbai, with one daily flight, effective […]
Jet Airways pilots seek gov’t help to recover unpaid salaries, with interest
NEW DELHI: Cash-strapped Indian carrier Jet AirwaysNSE -1.11 %’ pilots union has for the first time sought the government’s help to recover pending salaries and dues from the airline after their pleas to the management have fallen on “deaf ears.” In a letter to India’s labour minister, National Aviators Guild, which represents the majority of […]
Black boxes: Crucial to air crash probes
A top priority for air crash investigators is to locate and analyse a plane’s two black boxes which hold vital clues to what caused it to go down, including cockpit conversations. On Sunday, an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 crashed, killing all 157 people on board. The airline said Thursday that the black box […]
SBI chief says Jet Airways restructuring could be completed within a week
MUMBAI: State Bank of India (SBINSE 2.23 %) chairman Rajnish Kumar is confident that the restructuring of debt laden Jet AirwaysNSE -1.11 % could yield results as soon as the next one week. Without giving details, Kumar who is personally monitoring the restructuring as the chief of the bank with the largest exposure to the […]