INDIA: Air India Serves Meat To Vegetarian Passengers And Gets Fined

Air India was fined 40,000 rupees ($ 563) for serving food containing meat to a vegetarian couple. The state-run airline has been given 30 days to pay the fine after having received the order.

In case they fail to pay on time it will result in a 12% penalty.

Vegetarian Mr. Chandra Mohan Pathak said that he had booked return tickets for him and his wife to fly to Chicago on June 17, 2016, and then return to India on November 14th, 2016.

In the passengers’ complaint, he said that he had given Air India strict instructions to only serve him and his wife vegetarian food.

On the flight out to America, the meal was as he had asked, but on the return trip back to India they were served a meal that contained meat.

After discovering their meals contained meat, Mr. Pathak asked the flight crew to provide him with the airline’s complaints book so that he could make an entry about being served non-vegetarian food.

The passenger had to wait nearly three years for his complaint to be heard. There was no packaging or writing to differentiate a vegetarian meal from a non-vegetarian meal on the food he and his wife were served.

When airline staff refused to provide him with the airline’s complaints book, he went and filed a grievance with a local government consumer protection agency.

This year, when his complain finally got settled after a nearly three-year wait, the District Consumer Disputes Forum awarded him Rs 10,000 ($140.76) and another Rs 7,000 ($98.53) towards his legal costs.

Air India appealed the ruling to a higher court, Air India did not consider themselves to be at fault, however, and tried to appeal the ruling with the Punjab Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.

In their decision, the Punjab Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission once more found Air India to be at fault, quadrupling the fine to Rs 40,000.

In their statement regarding the matter published in Business Today, the Star Alliance member was told that their cabin crew should have checked the food more thoroughly before serving it to the couple.

Serving a non-vegetarian food to the vegetarian passenger was not only a deficiency in services, but also a sin in the eyes of God. The airliner by doing so also hurt the religious feelings of the passenger, it said.

Swiss also served the wrong meal to an Indian vegetarian. This is not the first instance of an airline being fined for giving an Indian vegetarian a meal that contained meat.

An earlier incident in 2011 saw Swiss accidentally serve a follower of the Jain religion, whose central belief is non-violence towards all things living, a meal that contained meat.

Followers of the Jain religion, refrain from not only eating meat, but eggs and root vegetables such as carrots onions, garlic, and potatoes.

They believe that acts that go against religious teaching will bring bad karma and suffering.

In this case, the plaintiff received Rs 20,000 and as a show of good faith, Swiss offered the passenger round trip business class tickets from Mumbai to Zurich.

Tourism Observer

INDIA: Bad Times For Jet Airways, Will They Fly Again?

After stopping operations earlier this month, Jet Airways technically isn’t gone forever. There are still some who want to see the airline gain additional financing in order to resume operations.

While there are some indicators Jet Airways could fly again, it seems unlikely given the current situation.

Jet Airways had a lot of debt and very little cash. India’s all out price war, with fares as low as a few cents, meant that there was an incredibly slim margin for profit.

Unfortunately, the market just didn’t work for Jet Airways. They invested in new aircraft, including the 737 MAX, and broadened their international partnerships. With a robust route network, Jet Airways thought they could be India’s top carrier.

Also burdening Jet Airways were high fuel costs and high taxes. Jet Airways simply could not make a profit. They teetered and tottered for months before finally seeing their fleet depleted.

In the days prior to their official suspension, only a handful of aircraft were operating and zero international routes were scheduled.

There has been a movement to resurrect Jet Airways. Former Jet Airways staff engaged in protests to get the airline up and running again. Jet Airways had a sizeable staff who are now faced with major uncertainty.

While some crew members went off to rival carriers, like SpiceJet, others are still looking for opportunities.

Jet Airways relied heavily on Etihad Airways for investment. Etihad itself faces significant financial concerns, yet somehow found Jet Airways worth sustaining. Over the years, they have put millions of dollars into the airline.

However, after the collapse of the airline and Etihad’s ongoing losses, it doesn’t seem like Etihad would want to resurrect the carrier before they get on solid financial footing themselves.

Etihad could always partner with an Indian conglomerate as Singapore Airlines did with their investment in Vistara. This could give Etihad some additional security since they wouldn’t necessarily be the ones pumping in funding for Jet Airways.

Jet Airways seems to be running out of luck and time for a new investor. With rival carriers descending on Jet’s valuable assets such as planes and the valuable slots at crowded airports, Jet Airways would face significant headwinds if they restarted operations.

This would definitely worry investors, especially as Indian airlines continue to miss out on record profits that other carriers see.

This is the question that aviation analysts and investors are grappling with. Jet Airways has a lost a lot in terms of positive name recognition, reputation, and key assets.

A new Jet Airways would have to reassure travelers that they can trust the carrier with their travel plans.

India’s aviation market is already quite crowded. State run Air India doesn’t seem to need to focus on turning a profit and low-cost carriers account for a significant market share.

As a result, it would be necessary for Jet Airways to define themselves as something different to what India already has. The problem is that Jet Airways doesn’t really have anything new and unique to offer travelers that current carriers cannot provide.

Delta Airlines recently announced a return to India. Though still vague on a few details, Delta plans to fly from New York to Mumbai. Mumbai was a major hub for Jet Airways. Thus, it made sense for Delta to connect the cities since there would be strong connecting opportunities.

Jet Airways has closely worked with Delta and KLM.

In the aftermath of Jet’s collapse, it seemed highly unlikely that Delta would return to Mumbai. Previously, it was reported that Delta may have some interest in Jet Airways and had a codesharing partnership with the carrier.

However, now that Delta is returning to Mumbai, it could be possible that they will have a role in resurrecting Jet Airways. Now, while there are no official reports or even rumors indicating Delta is seriously considering this.

While many would like to see Jet Airways resume operations, it seems highly unlikely, it may be the end of Jet Airways forever.


Tourism Observer

INDIA: Pakistan Air Space Closure Causes Heavy Losses For Air India

Air India has suffered losses of around Rs3 billion or Rs300 crore since late February as its long haul flights from New Delhi are taking longer to reach destinations in Europe, the Gulf and the US because of the closure of Pakistan's airspace.

The Pakistani airspace has remained shut for traffic to and from India ever since hostilities broke out between the two countries after the Pulwama suicide bombing in Jammu and Kashmir on February 14.

With its aircraft operating from New Delhi spending longer time in air, Air India is incurring daily loss of Rs6 crore on extra fuel burn, cabin staff expenses and reduced flights.

The national carrier has approached the Civil Aviation Ministry to ensure it is compensated for the loss given that the airline cannot pull out these flights due to various obligations.

Ministry officials said Air India had communicated to them about this and that it was being taken up with all concerned.

The Air India flights to the US from Delhi now take 2-3 hours extra one way due to the restrictions over Pakistani airspace. Flights to Europe are taking almost two hours more resulting in financial loss.

The airspace closure following an air strike by the Indian Air Force on the Jaish-e-Mohamnad (JeM) terror camp in Pakistan's Balakot on February 27 has affected most airlines from Europe and the US that operate flights to and from New Delhi.

Almost the entire air traffic from South East Asia to Europe has also been impacted as they would pass through north India into Pakistan and onwards.

American carrier United has temporarily suspended its Delhi-Newark flight and is monitoring the situation.

German flag carrier Lufthansa had said earlier that connections to Bangkok and Singapore would also be hit besides operations to India.

We are already preparing adjusted routes and will increase the amount of additional fuel in the event of delays. Some traffic rights for the new routing must also be secured, the airline had said on closure of Pakistani airspace.

An Air India official said that the airline has significant operations to Europe and North America and the diversion of flights due to closure of Pakistani airspace had so far caused a total loss of about Rs3b.

The losses on account of payload restriction and cancellation alone is about Rs 2.75 crore per day. The longer flying time has affected the duty hours of cabin staff and pilots, he said.

The other airlines have an option to pull out services in such situations but as the national carrier we cannot do so, the official added.


Tourism Observer

UAE: Passengers Face Consequential Delays As Six Air India Flights From UAE Affected By Software Glitch

Flights in the Gulf region were minimally affected by the massive disruption experienced by Air India due to a server crash yesterday, an airline official said, adding that only six flights were delayed, with passengers being duly notified.

Thousands of passengers across the world were stranded after the Indian flag-bearer’s server crashed at around 5am local time, halting its global operations.

Though the services were restored after around five hours of delay, dozens of flights were affected with the breakdown not allowing passengers to check in.

According to Air India’s regional manager, Mohit Sain, most of the flights from the region had departed before the disruption happened.

Here in the UAE we have had a limited impact of the disruption because the server crashed after most of our flights had departed from Dubai and Sharjah, said Sain.

However, he added the global crash led to delays of six flights and passengers were alerted in time, and notified about the change in timings.

Among the affected flights were AI934 Dubai to Kochi, which was rescheduled to 5.35pm, experiencing a three-hour delay.

Another flight facing significant delay was AI938 Dubai to Calicut, which was rescheduled to 8.45pm.

The airline’s budget carrier Air India Express also faced disruptions, with two flights from Sharjah rescheduled, including IX536 to Thiruvananthapuram which was scheduled for a 1pm departure, running late by more than an hour and IX354 was rescheduled for a 4pm departure, delayed by one hour 20 minutes.

According to a statement by Air India, a glitch in its passenger services system developed by aviation IT solutions firm SITA hampered the airline’s check-in and other passenger services.

At least 35 flights were affected when the system was down between 5am and 10am, however, the cascading effect of the disruption delayed more than 150 flights both domestically and internationally.

Air India has had previous issues of system failures with the most recent being in June last year when its passenger check in software crashed due to unexpected network connectivity issues.

As of 3.05 pm, Saturday, April 27:

The national flag-carrier Air India had managed to restore its system following a check-in software glitch that caused massive delays across its domestic and international operations.

The carrier tweeted that the temporary glitch was restored at 8:45 am, but expected that passengers were to face consequential delays.

Between 3:30 to 4:30 am Saturday, passenger services system of Air India that is run by SITA was taken for maintenance and after that it remained down till 8:45 am, it has just come back.

System restored. During the day we will see consequential delays, Air India chairman Ashwani Lohani said.

Air India's flight operations were affected across India and abroad since early morning on Saturday due to knock-effect of the server shutdown. Air India earlier said the server breakdown affected its flights all over the world.

Air India chairman Ashwani Lohani, in an interview with the local channel NDTV, attributed the problem to shutdown of SITA software. SITA (Société Internationale de Télécommunications Aéronautiques) is a multinational IT company providing telecommunication services to the air transport industry.

Thousands of Air India passengers were stranded at airports across the world Saturday, after a software glitch left those travelling with the state-run airline unable to check in, officials said.

More than 155 domestic and international flights were delayed for several hours because of a problem with the company's check-in software that brought operations to a halt causing further flight delays across the globe.

Our check-in software experienced a glitch following a routine software upgrade. It was resolved after six hours, Air India spokesman Praveen Bhatnagar said.

Bhatnagar said most of the delays were on its domestic circuit and they were doing everything possible to clear the backlog.

There were no flight cancellations and the airline expects operations to be back to normal by early evening, the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, CMD Air India Ashwani Lohani said that the glitch has been rectified.

The airline issued a statement on Twitter, saying: Our server system SITA, which faced a temporary glitch, this morning was restored at 08.45hrs. Air India senior executives, including CMD, Directors, Station Heads rushed to airports to take control of situation and facilitate pax.

Earlier, one user, R Vasundara, posted a picture of a crowded Mumbai airport, labelling the whole incident a nightmare.

Another user with the handle Priyam expressed anger at the failure with operations, saying What to expect if that’s the condition of a national carrier.

Priyanka Gulati posted a video of a crowded airport, calling the process a waste of time.

After hours at the the Chandigarh airport and under threat of missing a connecting flight, Twitter user Mukhtiar Singh uses social media to ask authorities for answers.

He wrote: Hi authorities what’s happening. I am on the Chandigarh airport with family from 5:30 am waiting for flight to delhi and then From delhi to london. It’s a real shame authorities are not updating us what’s happening.

An Air India spokesperson issued a statement, explaining: The SITA [IT] server is down. Due to which flight operation is affected. Our technical teams are on work and soon system may be recovered. Inconvenience is deeply regretted.

India's aviation industry is in choppy waters after one of the country's largest private carriers, Jet Airways, last week halted its operations indefinitely following refusal by lenders to pay it cash to run day-to-day operations.

The state-owned loss making Air India operates more than 450 fights a day across the globe, with a majority of them flying domestically.

Saturday's software malfunction is a repeat of a similar outage in June last year that caused flight delays globally.


Tourism Observer

INDIA: Hundreds Of Air India Passengers Stranded After Soft Ware Crash

Air India flights across the network since 3am (IST) on Saturday have been affected due to SITA’s passenger and baggage handling system being down.

The system resumed at 9am and along with a string of delayed flights. As a result, over 150 AI flights are likely to face delays of about two hours till 8.30pm.

Incidentally, SITA, a leading air transport IT specialist, says the snag happened during maintenance of the system and affected only Air India.

Thousands of passengers are stuck at big airports like Delhi and Mumbai as the affected system controls passenger and baggage check-in. AI is rescheduling flights to clear the backlog and flight delays of about two hours are expected.

After supervising the situation at Delhi Airport, AI chairman Ashwani Lohani said that SITA system has resumed at 8.45am. Due to this, till 10am, 85 of our flights have been delayed.

The ripple effect of the delays will be felt mainly on domestic flights till tonight. As of now, we have rescheduled 18 flights for today and cancelled some.

International flights will not face much impact barring a few like the Shanghai departure being delayed by 1.5 hours. The afternoon departures for Europe will leave with a delay of 15 to 30 minutes. It was a very major software disruption that we experienced.

AI and AI Group including AI Express and Alliance Air has 470 and 674 daily flights, respectively. AI officials rushed to airports to handle the situation as large number of passengers were stranded at high hubs.

Globally airlines experience such outages. We regret the inconvenience caused to passengers by the snag in SITA system. Some of our transit passengers like those coming from Kathmandu, Bangkok, Singapore to Delhi may miss their connections.

We have made hotel accommodations for such passengers. The change and reschedule charges have been waived for passengers affected by this major SITA outage, Lohani said.

Air India server crashed since 3.30 am. All flights cancelled. Thousands of passengers stranded at the airport. Nobody knows what is happening. Don’t go to the airport without confirming.

Air India server crashed since 3.30AM. All flights cancelled. Thousands of passengers stranded at the airport.

The snag affected functions like check-in, both at airport counters and web check-in, that delayed flights.

SITA spokesman Julius Baumann said SITA experienced a complex system issue during server maintenance early this morning, which resulted in operational disruption to Air India flights. We have now fully restored services at all airports where Air India were affected.

Our priority remains, as always, to ensure a stable system where customers can conduct business efficiently and effectively, and we are undertaking a full investigation to understand the root cause and prevent a recurrence.

We deeply regret the inconvenience this has caused to the airline and their customers owing to this disruption.


Tourism Observer

Safe And Unsafe Airlines

AEROFLOT OR ANY RUSSIAN AIRLINE

Russian airlines lead the world in crashes and fatalities. The only air disasters in the past ten years that stole the headlines from missing Malaysian Air flights were catastrophic Russian crashes which wiped out the Polish government, a hockey team, and hundreds of vacationers to Egypt.

Aeroflot is Russia’s flag carrier, and it has an ominous record as the airline with the most crashes in the world.

Today Aeroflot is modern and safe and hasn’t had a major incident since 2008, but the list of other Russian airlines, including S7 and Siberian Air and Nordstar, with huge crashes, is too hard to ignore. If you’re flying in or out of Russia, take Finnair.

AIR NEW ZEALAND

Air New Zealand was rated as the safest airline in the world by Skytrax for 2017, the third year in a row they won this prestigious, and important, award.

This is New Zealand’s flag carrier and they have flights to destinations mostly in Asia, but also to the UK, US, Australia, and Canada. The only incident they’ve had is when a flight carrying pilots, technicians, and a safety inspector crashed into the ocean in 2008.

Otherwise, Air New Zealand has never lost a civilian passenger, joining the ranks of Air Canada for the safest airline. With fewer accidents, crashes, and deaths than any other airline, rest easy when you’re traveling on Air New Zealand!

PAKISTAN INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES

Pakistan's flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines, is one of the most messed-up airlines in the world. The airline has a near-zero rating fromairlinereviews.com and is in the top 10 least safe airlines in the Skytrax annual review.

The airline has suffered many crashes resulting in fatalities every single year since they were founded in 1947, and when they’re not crashing or blowing up mid-air, they have a long list of minor accidents caused by pilot negligence and lack of ground maintenance.

FINNAIR

Finland’s largest airline and flag carrier has an impeccable safety record.They haven’t had a fatality since 1963, and have had few mishaps and accidents than any other airline in the world since then.

There were a couple of hijackings and attempts at bombing a Finnair airline, but these were all dealt with efficiently by authorities and passengers and crew were unharmed.

Finnair keeps a fleet of modern, well-maintained aircraft crewed by excellent pilots and professional flight attendants. If you’re flying anywhere in Europe, you can’t go wrong with Finnair.

MALAYSIAN AIRLINES

Malaysian Airlines has had a bad decade. Several large airline disasters have captured the world’s media attention, including the disappearance of Flight 370 in 2014.

What seems like such a shock to the world was no surprise to airline safety agencies and industry watchdogs, such as airlinereviews.com. Malaysian Airlines has a history of minor crashes, unsafe maintenance, corporate corruption and half-trained pilots and aircrew.

When several planes went down more recently, it was a culmination of a bad corporate culture that resulted in one of the most unsafe airlines in the world.

BRITISH AIRWAYS

British Airways was founded in 1974 by a government commission and has since grown to become the largest carrier in the UK. British Airways is one of the safest airlines in the world and hasn’t lost a passenger since 1976 when Flight 476 collided with another aircraft on takeoff, hurting 63 people on board.

This is the only time British Airways has had fatalities. Their pilots and crew are top-notch, and thanks to their fantastic skills several notable disasters have been avoided, like when Flight 900 flew through a volcanic ash cloud and the pilots glided the aircraft to a safe landing.

Qr the time a windshield blew out and the pilot was sucked out of the aircraft, but hung on while the co-pilot landed the plane safely. Nobody was hurt.

AIR INDIA

Air India is an Indian government owned airline founded in 1932. It has a dubious safety record, with a habit of exploding in mid-air.

Thankfully modern security screening has drastically reduced airline bombings around the world, but that doesn’t stop things like Air India flights randomly catching fire, or skidding off the runway, or simply driving into parked airplanes at the terminal loading docks.

Skytrax rates Air India as one of the least safe airlines due to a lot of negligence-caused accidents on the part of pilots, aircrew, and ground maintenance.

AIR CANADA

Air Canada has a proud and long history as one of the safest airlines in the world. Canada’s flag carrier was founded in 1937 and has never had a single fatality in all that time. They have flights to 207 cities around the world, making them one of the top 10 largest airlines and one of the top five oldest.

They’ve had the odd mishap, like in 2017 when the pilot accidentally turned off his radio while coming into San Francisco International Airport and landed on a runway full of taxiing airplanes.

This was the most serious incident in the airlines, history, and nobody was hurt. The pilot was suspended and the airline launched a full investigation. Air Canada flights are modern, well-maintained, and professional.

THAI AIRWAYS

Thailand’s national carrier has had a tough run as a world-class airline. They try really, really hard to be safe, but bad things just keep happening. In 2001 an entire wing blew up thanks to a fuel leak, resulting in one death on board.

In 2009 a flight crash-landed on a runway, while another plane dove into a rice paddy in 1998, killing everyone on board. For the most part, Thai Airways is safe, as they’ve had very few fatalities.

It’s just that things keep blowing up or falling off their airplanes, which shows a lack of maintenance and, as is usually the case with airlines from the developing world, corporate corruption which stops new parts and aircraft from reaching the fleet.

CATHAY PACIFIC

Cathay Pacific was one of the most luxurious airlines in the world at one point, winning the coveted “best airline” year after year. It has since fallen from the top spot, replaced by newcomers such as Qatar Airlines and Emirates.

Cathay Pacific still holds on to its stellar safety record, however. Hong Kong’s flag carrier reaches destinations around the world, and its last disaster was in 1972 when a bomb took down a flight, which can’t really be held against the company.

Their airplanes are known to be well-maintained and crewed by professionals, and their customer service is the best in all of Asia!

JETSTAR PACIFIC

Jetstar Pacific is a budget-airline out of Vietnam. Officially called Jetstar Pacific Airlies Joint Stock Aviation Company, this airline is near the bottom of Skytrax’s annual airline safety list.

According to aeroinside.com, which tracks airline incidents, Jetstar Pacific has had numerous safety incidents including tail strikes on takeoff, when the plane rotates the nose up to takeoff, the pilot is supposed to lift the plane off the ground or the tail will smash into the runway, known as a tail strike.

Other reports include landing gear malfunctions, noxious fumes in the cabin, and failure to pass a safety inspection at an Australian airport.

LUFTHANSA

Lufthansa was founded in the 1920s and then regrown after World War II and is one of the largest airlines in the world today. You can catch a Lufthansa flight to pretty much anywhere in Europe, and rest confident that you’ll actually get there alive. The airline isn’t without incidents, however.

Between 1959 and 1993, Lufthansa had several major accidents resulting in fatalities. The past 25 years have been very safe, with no fatalities and very few accidents. Although they are expensive, you’re getting what you pay for when you choose to fly with Lufthansa.

EGYPTAIR

Egyptair is Egypt’s national airline, with flights to nearly a hundred countries around the world. It’s also rated by Skytrax as one of the ten least safe airlines.

Even if you discount the company’s disasters, such as Flight 804 flying into the Mediterranean in 2016, or Flight 990 flying head-first into the Atlantic in the 90s, you still have an airline with a long history of mishaps.

In 2016 a plan caught fire while sitting on the runway. Another’s engine fell off during takeoff. There have been multiple hijackings of Egyptair flights in recent years, which makes for an uncomfortable vacation.

EMIRATES

Emirates has a decent safety record. They’ve never had a fatality on any of their flights, although they have had several mishaps on takeoff and landing.In 2004, and again in 2009, Emirates flights ran out of runway and plowed through landing lights and fences.

Nobody was hurt, but come on, really?In both cases, the investigators blamed the pilots for not lifting off and blamed Emirates for not giving the pilots enough rest between flights.

The odds of such an exciting start to your travels are rare, so instead sit back and enjoy Emirates world-famous comfort and service.

PHILIPPINE AIRLINES

Philippine Airlines is the flag carrier of The Philippines and is also one of the safest Filipino-operated airlines.Unfortunately, they aren’t the safest in the world, with a string of accidents, most of them minor.

Philippine Airlines flights have also been targeted by terrorists in the past, with al-Qaeda blowing up an airliner in 2007, and local extremists knocking down local propeller-driven craft now and again.

For the most part, you’ll survive your flight with these guys, but they still remain accident prone. Engines seize up mid-flight, landing gear doesn’t retract, planes fall off the runway, minor stuff.

SINGAPORE AIRLINES

Asian-based airlines seem to have a fantastic safety record. Eva, Cathay Pacific, and Singapore Airlines are all represented in the top 10 safest airlines in the world.Singapore Airlines isn’t without incidents, however.

In 1991 Pakistani militants hijacked Flight 117, until Singapore Special Forces stormed the aircraft and freed all the passengers while dispatching all the terrorists.

In 2000, Flight 006 took off from the wrong runway in Taiwan and crashed into some construction equipment, and 86 people lost their lives. There haven’t been any other fatalities in the airline's history and they’ve had an accident-free 18 years!

CHINA AIR

China Airlines is the largest air carrier in China and is partially government owned. If you’re heading to China, chances are you’ll end up booked on a China Air flight.

They fly to more than a hundred cities around the world, and is considered the 10th largest airline in the world! China Air also has one of the worst safety records of all the major airlines, with more than 30 catastrophic crashes and hundreds of minor accidents.

Most of their pilots are well-trained and come from a military background, but it seems that the aircraft themselves are not well maintained, and the company tends to skimp on spending the money necessary to keep their fleet safe.

EVA AIR

Eva Air is a Taiwanese airline launched in 1989. They have one of the best safety records of all the Asian airlines, and to date has not had a single aircraft incident or passenger fatality.If you’re flying Eva Air you can rest assured that you’re in good hands.

I’ve never flown Eva, but passenger reviews online tell a story of friendly, professional treatment, comfortable flights and average food.If you’re heading anywhere in Asia, try Eva Air. At the very least you’ll get there alive.

CUBANA

Cubana Airlines is considered one of the most accident-prone airlines in the world, with an accident rating 60 times higher than British Airways! Cubana is Cuba’s national airline, wholly owned by the Communist government.

It was founded in 1930 as a subsidiary of Pan-Am Airlines, but after Castro’s takeover, it was nationalized. Today it is known as Crashbana by Cubans and Mexicans.

In 2018 it had a catastrophic crash with 107 fatalities, which came only a year after another crash, which was eight months after another crash. If you must go to Cuba, fly on Air Canada.

JAPAN AIRLINES

Japan Airlines is one of the safest airlines in the world, having only one catastrophic accident in its history. That was when Flight 123 flew face-first into a mountain back in 1985, taking 520 passengers with it.

The company has since fired all of its kamikaze pilots and passengers can expect a relatively comfortable flight. I’ve flown JAL several times and was once even upgraded to first class, the only time in my traveling career, so I have a soft spot for them.

According to airlinerratings.com, JAL has a 7.2 out of 10 rating, making them one of the top 10 safest in the world!


Tourism Observer

INDIA: Tatas’ Love For Air India

It’s over four years since India’s Tata group went back into the country’s aviation sector.

In 2013, after staying on the sidelines for over six decades, the salt-to-software conglomerate returned to India’s aviation sector through two joint venture (JV) partnerships with Malaysia-based AirAsia Bhd and Singapore Airlines.

The Tata group had founded Air India (AI), then Tata Airlines, in 1932, which the Indian government took control of in 1953. Ever since, the group had stayed out of the airline business.

Now, it is eyeing a bigger slice of India’s aviation pie. On Oct. 10, chairman N Chandrasekharan said that his group would consider acquiring the beleaguered national carrier Air India.

This isn’t the first time that the Tatas have shown interest in AI, currently India’s fourth-largest airline by market share. In 2000, the group partnered with Singapore Airlines to bid for a 40% stake in the company, but the plan didn’t materialize as Singapore Airlines withdrew.

We will definitely look at it (AI), Chandrasekaran said. We still don’t have all the details. Every business proposal will be very seriously looked at and we will look at that (AI). Definitely.

But currently we don’t have the data there are so many different groups within Air India, and then there is real estate, there is debt, there is liabilities, and we got to look at all of that but we will definitely look at it.

The $103 billion Tata Sons’ interest in AI could have stemmed from the lacklustre showing of AirAsia and Vistara. Together, they have a domestic market share of only 7.6% with a fleet of 29 aircraft. This is significantly lower than market leader IndiGo’s 38% with 138 aircraft.

We need to look at aviation as a whole, Chandrasekaran said. We are subscale. We got two airlines both are subscale. Any decision that we take—Air India or otherwise—we have to have a story because we can’t be operating with 15 aircraft or 20 aircraft.

The Tata group owns 51% of Vistara, with Singapore Airlines in control of the rest. In AirAsia India, it owns 49%, while the rest is held by Malaysia’s AirAsia Bhd.

Over the past few years, both Vistara and AirAsia India have been looking at international operations but have been held up by regulatory hurdles, hampering business and profitability.

India’s aviation norms require an airline to deploy 20 aircraft, or 20% of its fleet, on domestic routes before it can take off on international routes. Vistara and AirAsia India have only 16 and 13 aircraft respectively.

You have got to give them time as far as their investments in AirAsia India and Vistara goes, Mark Martin, founder of Martin Consulting, an aviation consultancy based in Dubai, said about the Tata group’s investments in the aviation sector.

But, if and when Air India is bought out by Tata, it would be one massive and mega monolithic turnaround for the airline because the Tatas are the only people capable of turning around such an airline.

Buying AI will give the Tata group access to a sizeable fleet that can operate both at home and abroad. The government airline flies to nearly 41 international and 72 domestic destinations.

It is also India’s single largest international carrier with a 17% market share of the overseas routes from the country and operates 119 aircraft. But, bogged down by debt following an ill-advised merger in 2007, it has been struggling for survival.

The Tata group’s core strategy currently involves building a strong brand globally. And what better than an airline that flies to every part of the world, particularly the Americas and Africa? That’s the opportunity Air India brings to the table for the Tatas, Martin said.

India is currently the world’s ninth-largest aviation market. Domestic air travel is expected to grow 9.5% annually between 2011 and 2031, according to aircraft maker Airbus. Currently, only about 2% of India’s population uses airlines, providing a massive opportunity to expand the market.

The prospects for Air India’s privatization seem to be going from bad to worse.

Days after India’s largest airline IndiGo declared that it lacks the capability to turn the country’s state-run airline around, the private player’s closest competitor by market share, Jet Airways, pulled out of the race.

We welcome the government move to privatise Air India. It is a bold step. However, considering the terms of offer in the information memorandum and based on our review, we are not participating in the process, Amit Agarwal, Jet Airways’ deputy CEO said

Earlier this year, Ajay Singh, chairman of low-cost carrier SpiceJet, had also told CNBC-TV18 that it is too small to bid for the Maharajah.

With three heavyweights out, few aviation space players remain in the race for Air India. And all eyes are now on the airline’s founder itself: the Tata Group.

Last year, Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekharan had made his group’s interest known when he said it would definitely look at buying Air India.

I do not think any player in India, apart from the Tata group, has the management ability to turn around an airline like Air India. Tata also has the strategic leadership, financial foresight, and consumer connect to drive traffic, said Mark Martin, head of aviation consultancy firm Martin Consulting.

The group, he said, can either individually bid for Air India, or form a consortium with a foreign airline.

The Tata group, India’s largest diversified conglomerate, had total revenues of around Rs673,350 crore ($100 billion) as of financial year 2017.

It went into aviation in the 1930s with the launch of Tata Airlines, which was later nationalised and rebranded as Air India. In 2014, it partnered with AirAsia Behrad to launch AirAsia India. A year later, its joint venture with Singapore airlines, Vistara, took flight.

If the Tatas, too, opt out, government will have to look for alternatives.

One option could be one or more foreign airlines teaming up with Indian financiers, Martin explained. Airlines like Qatar airways can partner with private equity firms, for instance, and bid for Air India, he said.

A foreign airline can only have up to a 49% stake in Air India, with ownership and effective control of the airline resting with an Indian entity.

However, some experts believe the sale terms need to be overhauled.

The government may have to reconsider separating the domestic operations from the ground-handling services and international operations, Dhiraj Mathur, partner at PwC India said.

Additionally, low-cost players do not necessarily want to enter the full-service airline business, Mathur said. Therefore government will likely have to change the terms if it wants Indian players to participate.

Air India is the flag carrier airline of India headquartered at New Delhi. It is owned by Air India Limited, a government-owned enterprise, and operates a fleet of Airbus and Boeing aircraft serving 94 domestic and international destinations.

The airline has its hub at Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, alongside several focus cities across India. Air India is the largest international carrier out of India with an 18.6% market share.

Over 60 international destinations are served by Air India across four continents. Additionally, the carrier is the third largest domestic airline in India in terms of passengers carried after IndiGo and Jet Airways with a market share of 13.5% as of July 2017.

The airline became the 27th member of Star Alliance on 11 July 2014.

The airline was founded by J. R. D. Tata as Tata Airlines in 1932; Tata himself flew its first single-engine de Havilland Puss Moth, carrying air mail from Karachi to Bombay's Juhu aerodrome and later continuing to Madras currently Chennai.

After World War II, it became a public limited company and was renamed as Air India. On 21 February 1960, it took delivery of its first Boeing 707 named Gauri Shankar and became the first Asian airline to induct a jet aircraft in its fleet.

In 2000–01, attempts were made to privatise Air India and from 2006 onwards, it suffered losses after its merger with Indian Airlines.

Air India also operates flights to domestic and Asian destinations through its subsidiaries Alliance Air and Air India Express. Air India's mascot is the Maharajah (Emperor) and the logo consists of a flying swan with the wheel of Konark inside it.


Tourism Observer

INDIA: Parliamentary Panel Criticizes Airlines For Overcharging, Misbehavior, Long Ques, And Poor Food

India’s embattled airlines, reeling under mounting debt and piling losses, have now been called out by the country’s lawmakers for shoddy services.

A parliamentary panel on Dec. 27 criticised aviation firms for overcharging, staff misbehaviour, unsatisfactory check-in, and poor luggage collection services, among other things.

What the passenger wants is a quick check-in, without long queues, and a smooth process of security check. Despite the huge claims of airlines regarding the check-in process, the committee is compelled to observe that the check-in counters are in a mess, especially those of low-cost airlines such as IndiGo, said the parliamentary standing committee on transport, tourism, and culture in a report (pdf) tabled in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Indian parliament.

It mentioned incidents of a few private airlines deliberately creating long queues at check-in counters to ensure that passengers miss their flights, and then persuading them to buy exorbitantly priced tickets for the next available ones.

The report recommended that the number of check-in counters and people deployed at the counters must be directly proportional to the number of flights each airline operates from an airport.

However, responding to the panel’s observations, the government indicated it may not be able to do much about it.

Check-in process, check-in counters, and collection of luggage are commercial issues and the government does not interfere with the commercial activities of the airlines.

Further, there is no regulation issued by the aviation regulator, DGCA or directorate general of civil aviation in this regard, the ministry of civil aviation was quoted in the report.

The parliamentary committee had other complaints, too.

It came down heavily on low-cost airlines for providing unsatisfactory food, even when passengers are charged for it. Every airline should maintain the highest quality of food and they should also change the menu occasionally instead of keeping a cold sandwich in their menu throughout the year, the report said.

It noted that since there are no uniform standards for imposing charges for rescheduling, cancellation, and no-show, such levies by airlines are often arbitrary today. Airlines should not charge over 50% of the base fare as cancellation charges, it suggested.

The committee pulled up IndiGo, India’s largest airline by market share, for staff misbehaviour.

Our committee is very clear that the worst performing airline for consumers is IndiGo. They haven’t responded in spite of many complaints. IndiGo even charges for 1-2 kg overweight, this has not been taken very well and the committee is looking into the matter seriously, chairman of the committee, and member of parliament, Derek O’Brien said at a press conference after the report was tabled in parliament.

IndiGo, however, defended itself. We evaluate every complaint/feedback rigorously and develop training modules keeping the customer sentiment in mind, IndiGo responded.

The report comes at a time when most major airlines in the country are trying to cut corners and squeeze the last penny out of their various services, struggling as they are on multiple fronts.

Profitability in the industry has taken a severe beating as companies battle high fuel prices and unfavourable currency exchange rates. Airliners like IndiGo, SpiceJet, and Jet Airways have seen their finances worsen in the past two quarters.

The lawmakers’ criticism is something the industry could have dealt with before, to avoid such critisism.

However, the commitee The Committee is happy to note that the heliport at Rohini has been operationalized.
The Committee is of the view that the helicopter industry has tremendous potential to provide services in the tourism sector, disaster management etc.

The Committee desires that more such heliports may be set up throughout the country. The Committee reiterates its earlier
recommendation that Air India and Pawan Hans can work together to ensure seamless travel on hub and spokes basis- bringing passengers from smaller places to various tourist spots.

The Committee feels that the development of un-served and under-served airports would give a major boost to air connectivity to various small cities and towns.

It will further give a fillip to the economic development in these areas in terms of job creation and infrastructure development.

There should not be any unreasonable restriction on the allocation of fund to the demands of the Ministry of Civil Aviation as the money spent will spur the overall growth of the country especially in view of the Regional Connectivity Scheme UDAN.

The Committee takes note of the initiatives taken under RCS. Air connectivity is the main mode of transport for majority of the population of North East to other parts of the country and these States are demanding overall economic development.

The Committee feels that better air connectivity is the only solution to opening up the economy of North Eastern States. Therefore, the Committee notes that it is very essential to give a preferential treatment to the North Eastern States as far as air connectivity is concerned.

Tourism Observer

IRAN: Air India Cockpit Window Cracks As It Lands In Iran

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner has now been grounded and a relief plane, a Boeing 747, has been sent from Mumbai to ferry the passengers to Delhi.

A crack in the main cockpit window forced an Air India plane from Frankfurt to Delhi to land mid-way in Tehran this morning.

AI 120 Frankfurt-Delhi plane landed at Tehran at 6.20 AM as a precautionary measure, according to the airline spokesperson Dhananjay Kumar.

There were 249 passengers onboard the aircraft.

The main window in front of the pilot developed cracks.This happened because of malfunctioning of the internal heating system, said an airline official on the condition of anonymity.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner has now been grounded and a relief plane, a Boeing 747, has been sent from Mumbai to ferry the passengers to Delhi, Kumar said.

The plane will also carry a team of technical and engineering staff to make the repairs to the grounded aircraft.


Tourism Observer

INDIA: Air India Flight From Ahmedabad In Emergency Landing At Mumbai Airport, Reason Hydraulic Failure

An Air India A321 aircraft flying in from Ahmedabad carried out an emergency landing at the Mumbai airport on Wednesday.

Air India is the Best Airline in Indian Domestic Sectors as it gives service.

Anyone who has ever travelled by Air India will never travel by any other Airlines. Have u noticed that Pvt. Operator's.

Air India flight AI-985 took off from Ahmedabad with 131 passengers on board at 7.30 pm, but the aircraft developed a hydraulic failure en route which forced the pilots to opt for an emergency landing, said a source.

A Mumbai airport spokesperson said that full emergency was declared at 8.15 pm for AI 985 arriving from Ahmedabad due to hydraulic failure.

With fire engines and ambulances on standby, the aircraft landed safely at 8.35 pm, after which the emergency was withdrawn.

Air India spokesperson was not available for comment.


Tourism Observer

INDIA: Air India Is Improving Their Business Class By Upgrading Ambience, Upholstery And New Features.

The Indian government set a deadline of June for Air India to be privatized. The airline is losing hundreds of millions of dollars per year, and there are no signs of that changing.

After a lot of threats, the government has decided to extend the deadline, and won’t in fact require the airline to be privatized this month because clearly that’s not going to happen.

Instead they’re going to try and improve the performance of the airline and then disinvest in it. Easier said than done.

So I guess as their first step towards trying to improve Air India, the airline is apparently about to announce a new business class product and new uniforms.

As noted by Live from a Lounge, Air India will be unveiling revamped first and business class products this Friday, June 22, 2018. The Minister of State for Civil Aviation has announced that this new business class would be called Maharaja Business Class, though the changes go beyond that.

Airline officials said the latest makeover exercise would involve overhauling of a section of the first class and business class with an upgraded ambience, upholstery and other new features. The night kits would also come with a new look, they added.

Besides, variety cuisines and new uniforms for crew would be introduced, they said.

According to the officials, the cabin crew of Boeing aircraft flying on the overseas routes would be sporting new uniform with a subtle western touch.

So it’s not entirely clear how substantial these changes would be. At first I assumed they’d be installing new seats altogether, which are much needed on the 777, but not as needed on the 787.

But it sounds like the changes may be more cosmetic than that based on them saying that they’re upgrading the ambience, upholstery and other new features.

It’s also somewhat confusing that they suggest that they’re overhauling a section of the first class and business class cabins.

Will Air India have first class, Maharaja first class, business class, and Maharaja business class? That sounds funny.

Air India says that they hope this will help their business class yields and improve market share because they currently have 17% international market share in India, and that they want to make the airline more customer-focused with enviable service.

They have a long way to go, to put it mildly.

So I commend the airline for trying to make improvements, though we’ll see in a couple of days how much substance there is behind them.

It Would be interesting to see the new designs. Currently, India-Europe and India-USA market is dominated by Middle East carriers.

Even the worst ME carrier is still far superior to Air India. I can’t see this helping them unless they manage to get a competitive product, price and friendly service, which is by far the biggest weakness at Air India.

For a country which has the best true 5 star hotels with such amazing hospitality, it is a real shame they can’t put together a stellar international airline.

Surely, that’s the difference between public and private sector industries.


Tourism Observer

OMAN: Oman Air Not Interested In Buying Stake In Air India

Oman Air is looking to grow flights into India, but the carrier’s plans don’t include buying any stakes in airling Air India.

CEO Paul Gregorowitsch said the Gulf’s history with buying stakes in legacy airlines hasn’t born fruit.

As a businessman, you are far more eager to participate with a profit-making airline and not having the legacy of the state airline, Gregorowitsch telling reporters at a roundtable.

If you look at what the neighbouring Gulf airlines have done with state airlines in Europe, you see that those investments have been a complete failure.

Today we have no interest to make a bid for Air India or part of Air India.

If it would come to it, we would team up with a promising proposition from a successful Indian airline than setting up our own or getting involved with an ailing Indian airline, he added.

Gregoroswitch does, however, have an eye on adding to capacity within the country, a plan which involves growing its wide body fleet.

India’s National Civil Aviation Policy formulated in 2016 looks to enter the country in reciprocal air service agreements with SAARC countries as well as those located within 5,000 kilometres from New Delhi.




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INDIA: Air India May Be For Sale, But Who Will Buy A Debt Ridden Airline? TATA or Indigo

Air India's net loss after tax narrowed to Rs 3,643 crore and operating profit rose to Rs 300 crore in the last financial year, the government said on Wednesday.

The airline saw its total revenue, including exceptional and extraordinary items, increase to Rs 22,146 crore in 2016 -17 period, as per provisional numbers provided by Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha to the Rajya Sabha.

The total revenue stood at Rs 20,524.56 crore in the year-ago period.

The financial position seems to have improved for the airline as it had posted a net loss after tax of Rs 3,836.77 crore and an operating profit of Rs 105 crore in 2015-16 fiscal.

However, the airline's expenditure went up to Rs 25,789 crore in the last financial year, as per the provisional numbers. In 2015-16, the same was lower at Rs 24,361.33 crore.

Against the backdrop of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) last month giving its in-principle approval for Air India's strategic disinvestment, Sinha responded to various queries related to the airline by way of written replies to the Rajya Sabha.

Citing provisional figures, Sinha said Air India's total debt stood at Rs 48,876.81 crore at the end of March 2017.

Air India is facing financial pressure and earning less profit due to high debt burden as an offshoot of past accumulated losses.

The debt servicing is at around Rs 6,000 crore per annum, the minister said.

To a query on whether Air India is facing financial pressure due to laxity in operation and management of the airline, Sinha replied in the negative.

To implement the decision of the CCEA, appointment of transaction adviser, legal adviser and asset valuer shall be taken up as per terms and conditions and scope of work of advisers/ valuer in accordance with the model RFPs (Request for Proposals) suggested by the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management, Sinha said.

Noting that liquidity constraints continue to impact the airline's smooth functioning, he said the company has been making constant efforts for substituting its high cost working capital loans with long term low cost debt.

Air India has been in consultation with various banks so that the interest costs can come down substantially in the coming years to improve its profits, the minister added.

According to Sinha, the number of contractual staff of Air India increased in operational categories in the last one year.

As per the figures, the number of contractual staff rose to 2,636 as on April 1, 2017 compared to 1,740 at the same period a year ago.

The national also benefited from the ban imposed by the US, in March, on carrying of large electronic devices as hand baggage on flights from some Gulf countries.

Earlier this month, the US revoked the curbs on airlines flying from some of these airports.

The ban had limited, transient beneficial impact on Air India's passenger revenues, Sinha said.



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INDIA: Air India Plans Voluntary Retirement For 1/3 Of 40,000 Staff

State-owned Air India is drawing up a compensation plan to offer in a voluntary retirement of a third of its 40,000 employees, ahead of its privatization next year.

The carrier likewise scrapped its April decision to lease eight Boeing 787 wide-body aircraft after putting fleet expansion on hold, an unnamed company official said.

Prime minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet last month approved plans to privatize the loss-making flag carrier — either in parts or lock, stock and barrel — ending decades of state support.

The central government in 2012 injected $5.8 billion in bailout support to keep the airline flying amidst its $8.5 billion debt (SR31.88 billion) and bloated cost structure.

Founded in the 1930s, Air India has been unprofitable since its 2007 merger with then-domestic carrier Indian Airlines.

It made an operating profit of about one billion rupees in its financial year to March 16, thanks to oil prices, but still posted a net loss of 38.4 billion rupees.

Once the country’s major aviation player, Air India has lost market share to better-run private airlines such as IndiGo, whose share of the market in January stood at 39.8 percent; and Jet Airways with a share of 15.5 percent.

Nothing has been finalized but our aim is to make the strategic sale as simple as we can, said a second airline official said, and added that any fresh investments would be put on hold.



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INDIA: IndiGo Anxious To Acquire Air India

IndiGo has formally written to the Indian government, expressing interest in acquiring Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express.

This was made public in a letter to India’s Ministry of Civil Aviation disclosed on parent InterGlobe Aviation’s stock exchange page.

In it, IndiGo president Aditya Ghosh says the low-cost carrier is interested in acquiring the international airline operations of Air India and Air India Express.

Alternatively, we are equally interested in acquiring all of the airline operations of Air India and Air India Express, he adds.

We would like to point out that our confidence and ability to build for our country one of the world’s largest international carriers is driven by the significant domestic network we have built over the years.

In our view, no other carrier is better placed to realise this potential and we would not even dream of embarking on such a journey but for our domestic feed network.

He elaborates that India has over time allowed disproportionate access to airlines of some countries in the Middle East and Southeast Asia, allowing these airlines to build massive hubs that have significantly benefited at the expense of India.

As a consequence of this, India’s international air transportation hubs reside outside the geography of our country.

It is time for India to take back its fair share of international traffic, and bring back this economic wealth to where it rightfully belongs, says Ghosh.

IndiGo’s disclosure comes a day after the announcement that New Delhi has given in-principle approval for the privatisation of Air India and its five subsidiaries.

A committee, chaired by finance minister Arun Jaitley, will also be formed to consider options for privatising the flag carrier.

The committee will look into the airline’s debt level, the possibility of hiving off certain assets into a shell company, unmerging and strategic divestment of three of its profitable subsidiaries, the percentage to be divested, and the selection of bidders.

IndiGo is India’s largest domestic carrier, with government data showing that it has a 41% share of the domestic market – far outweighing Air India’s 14%.

On international routes, however, Air India has the largest market share with 17%.


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QATAR: Gulf Aviation May Change With Gulf Diplomatic Crisis

Qatar Airways has lost access to the airspace of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt and all flights from Doha to those countries; all of them have been canceled. Subsequently, those countries have been joined by Libya, Yemen, and the Maldives.

The loss of access is part of a broader cessation of diplomatic ties between those four states and Qatar due to concerns over purported Qatari sponsoring of terrorism and other issues.

It’s proper to understand the context of why this action was taken by the seven nations in question. Ostensibly, the claim is that these countries are unhappy with Qatar’s sponsoring of supposed terrorist activity, most notably Palestinian group Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. But there is clearly more at play.

As this Vox article points out, there are also tensions surrounding Qatar’s partially state-owned news agency Al Jazeera, and over Qatar’s relatively warm ties with the newly resurgent Iranian regime.

That last point speaks to what many consider to be the real driver behind this move—Saudi Arabia and the other Sunni nations fear an upset of the existing balance of power where Saudi Arabia is the regional leader of Sunni Islam and the de-factor regional kingpin of the Middle East.

Freed from sanctions by President Obama’s nuclear deal, the Shia Iranians are making a major push to get a seat at the table under the relatively reformist government of Hassan Rouhani. Saudi Arabia at least partially fears Iran’s rise and wants to bring Qatar more in line with other states in the region.

None of this has direct links to the aviation aspects per se, but it does suggest that even if Qatar gives in to some of Saudi Arabia’s demands such as cutting ties with Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, and shutting down Al Jazeera, it is not a given that Qatar will once again be given free reign in the airspace of its neighboring countries.

First off, the shutdowns affect about 55 daily flights from Qatar Airways’ Doha hub, more than 10% of the total.

This is broken down as 25 flights to the UAE across four destinations including Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah, 20 flights to Saudi Arabia across ten destinations, six flights to Bahrain, and five flights to Egypt across three destinations.

Even if the number of seats isn’t quite 10% of Qatar Airways’ total traffic, these four spoke markets particularly the UAE and Saudi Arabia represent a non-trivial proportion of feed into Qatar Airways’ Doha hub. And there are certainly a few marginal routes whose business case will be impacted by not having this feed anymore.

The direct impact here is that 17 routes are being terminated, but the indirect impact on connectivity could kill another 10-15 or wipe out Qatar Airways’ profitability, forcing them to dip into the sovereign wealth fund to subsidize the airline.

The airspace impact for the moment is tangible but manageable so long as Bahrain continues to allow the one route through its airspace. The odd routings required by this airspace configuration add anywhere from fifty to several hundred miles to Qatar Airways’ flight paths, and that is a non-trivial cost impact,at first glance our estimate is $50-75 million on an annualized basis.

In the long run, this would also constrain Qatar Airways’ growth as that one pathway through Bahraini airspace is already bursting at the seams at Qatar Airways’ current level of operations.

Things get really crazy, however, if Bahrain blocks off that one pathway as well, thereby cutting Qatar off aerially from the rest of the world,remember the airspace ban also applies to other carriers operating in Qatar. At that point, Qatar Airways would have to shut down, or more likely its government would capitulate.

Now with the caveat as with the laptop ban that this could all be moot and resolved within 36 hours or so and certainly within a couple of weeks, either of the two scenarios would have a pretty massive impact on the shape of global aviation.

The traffic that currently flies Qatar Airways (26.6 million passengers) would be broken up and dispersed amongst the airline’s rivals in the Middle East Emirates, Etihad, and Turkish Airlines as well as back to home country carriers Saudia, Air India, etc.

Qatar Airways currently has 217 passenger aircraft on order (including 171 wide-bodies) and thus represents a nontrivial portion of Airbus and Boeing’s backlogs by aircraft value. The biggest adverse impact would be on the 777X,it has 60 on order or a fifth of that program’s backlog and the A350-1000 about a sixth of the program’s backlog.

To a lesser extent, the Airbus A380 and Boeing 777-300ER would also be affected, and those companies would lose at least hundreds of millions of dollars if not billions of dollars in market capital.

Even the less aggressive scenario of no service to the four feeder countries will likely trigger a series of deferrals and maybe the cancellation of 10% of the backlog,along with either the A320neo family or 737 MAX family order.

Here the major systemic risk is to the A380 and especially the 777X as the A350, and 787 have enough demand to fill deferred slots with other customers. On the airline side, the same effect would occur regarding traffic being redistributed to Middle Eastern rivals and to home country carriers,in this case Saudia and Egyptair are the big winners.

Once again that caveat is that this could all be resolved within a few days. But if things develop adversely, this has the potential to change the contours of global aviation.

INDIA: Goods And Services Tax Summit In Srinagar Creates Hope For Tourism

The just-concluded two-day meeting on Goods and Services Tax (GST) in Srinagar, where a large delegation of ministers and officials had travelled from across the country to finalise the rates for the new tax regime, may have signaled to the world that all is well in the Valley.

But, several locals, who Business Standard spoke to, said tourism had been wiped out in the past few months due to the continuing unrest.

They admitted though that the message of normalcy that GST summit has sent across may bring in more tourists and make it a season of active business once more. At least that’s what they are hoping for.

Yahan na mausam ka bharosa hai, na haalat ka (neither can we trust the weather here, nor the situation), said a taxi driver in the city.

Along with the thick cover of deodar, chinar, poplar, willow and walnut trees, armed state police force can be spotted at every corner.

The volatile situation has meant hotels wearing a deserted look. "We just have 10 rooms booked at the moment, and this is the peak season,’’ an executive at a prominent hotel said.

Compare it with last year’s figures at this time—as many as 95 rooms were booked.

Apart from the fear of terrorist attacks, frequent incidents of stone pelting are driving tourists away, according to the locals.

In fact, stone pelting is part of everyday life here. Ask 19-year-old student Bilal what his favourite pass time is, and his reply is instant—‘’my friends and I enjoy pelting stones.

We do not watch cinema or play cricket.’’ He, however, added that tourists are not the target ever and so they must continue to visit Kashmir.

Another local who drives a taxi for livelihood said his business was down by 60% this season. Lack of tourism affects us badly, prompting more youth to do illegal activities, he added.

An information and publicity officer of the state pointed out that shikara owners were the worst hot.

We usually get a lot of tourists from Gujarat and West Bengal from April onwards, but the footfall has been very thin this year. It has affected livelihoods of shikara operators, small restaurants and hotels, he said.

Gulmarg, about 65 km from Srinagar, faces the same plight. A cable car staff said that the business this year was just a third of the previous year.

The city grinds to a halt at around 9 in the night as anybody can be picked up after that hour, a local confided. Do your work and save your life is the principle we follow, he added.

Indeed, checks and vigils define Kashmir now. For instance, on way to the historic Chashme Shahi, the royal spring at one of the Mughal Gardens, for the GST briefing by Union finance minister Arun Jaitley, the vehicle ferrying journalists was stopped at least thrice for questioning, despite a VVIP security pass.

There’s no question of any social media in the Valley. Twitter, Facebook and Whatsapp are frequently blocked.

Please spread the message that Srinagar is safe and beautiful, said one of the hotel staff employed with the Air India owned Centaur Hotel, also the venue for the GST Council meeting. He said poor tourism had hit their earnings.

According to a souvenir seller, people here become used to a new normal every day.

We have always been used to guns and stones, but pellets were new for us last year. We are used to that also now,he said.

It is believed that hospitality to those attending the GST summit, including journalists covering the event, was a step towards promoting tourism in the state.

There is no unrest. Petty instances happen in every city. You must send out a message that Kashmir is safe for tourism,said a J&K tourism department official.

INDIA: Passengers Delaying Air India Flights To Be Fined

Passengers delaying Air India flights will soon have to pay hefty fees and face immediate registering of police complaints.

The airline is planning to fine Rs 5 lakh for delaying a flight up to an hour; Rs 10 lakh for delay between one and two hours and Rs 15 lakh for delaying beyond two hours.

The airline took this step after three cases of high-handedness by MPs in recent past. In November 2015, a YSR Congress MP assaulted an AI officer at Tirupati when the lawmaker came late to the airport and had to be denied boarding as check-in for the flight he was supposed to take was closed.

Last month, Shiv Sena's Ravindra Gaikwad beat up a 60-year-old staffer with sandals and then a Trinamool Congress MP delayed a flight as her wheelchair-bound mother was requested to shift from emergency row as per rules.

These VVIP episodes saw AI employees morale taking a hit as unlike common unruly flyers, the lawmakers got away scot free.

But the airline management led by chairman Ashwani Lohani is keen to protect the interests of employees and is working on a number of steps to tackle unruly passengers.

The airline's proposal for levying fines on unruly passengers who delay flights lays down the protocol to be followed by employees.

They will have to first inform the airport manager without any delay and then the complaint will go right up to the chairman's office.

FIR/police complaint will be filed immediately under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code. The property damaged will be assessed and claimed as damages from the unruly flyer.

The fine of Rs 5-15 lakh is a not based on actual damage caused or losses incurred but a symbolic amount to be charged from unruly flyers. AI wants strong deterrents to be in place for unruly flyers.

The Maharaja was the first Indian carrier to decide on barring someone — Shiv Sena's Ravindra Gaikwad — from flying and other airlines followed suit.

However, AI was directed to lift the ban on Gaikwad by the aviation ministry and being a government-owned entity it had to do so

While AI continues to plan steps like fining passengers who delay flights, all Indian carriers want a no-fly list for unsafe passengers.

They say when hotels have "right of entry reserved" signs on their gates, airlines too should be allowed to bar unsafe flyers from getting on board.

How soon the aviation ministry is able to have a no fly list remains to be seen.

Air India Joins Fellow Star Alliance Carriers at Heathrow Terminal 2 | The Queen’s Terminal

Star Alliance member carrier Air India has successfully moved all its operations at London Heathrow’s Airport from Terminal 4 to Terminal 2, the home of Star Alliance.

The national airline of India operates up to eight daily flights in and out of Heathrow with either Boeing 777 or Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft and has been serving London for nearly 70 years.

At present it offers two daily flights to Delhi, one daily flight to Mumbai, four weekly flights to Ahmedabad and three weekly flights to Newark (New York).

“With 24 of our member airlines flying to Heathrow, the airport is served by more Star Alliance member carriers than any other airport in our worldwide network.

Therefore our long term strategy for Heathrow has always been to locate all our members under the same roof. With Air India’s successful move to the Queen’s Terminal we have now accomplished this”, said Jeffrey Goh, CEO Star Alliance.

Compared to Terminal 4, the check-in layout and concept in Terminal 2 allows customers to take greater control of their journey. This has been made possible through a combination of increased automation and common check-in.

Travellers who have not checked in online can use any of 81 multi-airline check-in kiosks available throughout Terminal 2. These also print boarding passes and bag tags.

Once checked in, Air India passengers can drop off their bags at the shared counters in Zone D. Customers requiring additional support and assistance or travelling in First Class, Business Class or holding Star Alliance Gold status will also find the respective counters in Zone D.

Air India customers travelling in either First or Business Class or holding Star Alliance Gold status can make use of any of the four lounges in Terminal 2 operated by fellow Star Alliance member airlines Air Canada, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines and United.

INDIA: Air India, IndiGo Cancel Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad's Ticket

Moments after Shiv Sena MP from Osmanabad Ravindra Gaikwad refused to apologise for thrashing an Air India staff, the airline cancelled his return ticket from Delhi to Pune.

Shiv Sena Member of Parliament, Ravindra Gaikwad, in the news for slapping an Air India employee with his slippers, may be permanently barred from flying on the country's national carrier.

The Osmanabad MP has refused to apologise for his behaviour. According to latest reports, Air India has cancelled Gaikwad's return ticket from Delhi to Pune.

Following this, IndiGo too canceled Gaikwad's ticket.

The MP was booked on a 5pm flight, but the airline, which along with other private carriers has barred Gaikwad from flying with them, had cancelled the ticket.

The Federation of Indian Airlines, an industry body representing India's scheduled airline carriers, has blacklisted Gaikwad.

The FIA counts Jet Airways, IndiGo, Go Air, SpiceJet and JetLite as its members.

"Air India and FIA member airlines have decided to ban this Member of Parliament from flying on all our flights with immediate effect," FIA Director Ujjwal Dey, said in a statement.

Air India, meanwhile, has been mulling establishing a no-fly list of passengers with a history of bad behaviour while flying on the airline.

Once implemented, Gaikwad, who has remained defiant about the incident while admitting to assaulting the AI employee, would be on the list.

IndiGo and SpiceJet, meanwhile, have lent support to the idea of forming a nationwide no-fly list. "SpiceJet supports a no-fly list to bar unruly flyers who are a safety hazard for not just the crew but even the traveling public.

The government needs to act on this soon," SpiceJet CMD Ajay Singh said.

"In the interest of the safety and security of our colleagues and other customers we also propose the promulgation of a "no fly" list which shall include the names of all unruly passengers," Dey said in the FIA statement.

Gaikwad, in an interview remained unapologetic about the incident, saying he is not in the wrong. "I do not regret (beating up the employee) and I will not apologise," Gaikwad said.

He went on to dare Air India to blacklist from flying on the airline, adding that if AI employees misbehaved with him again in the future, he will repeat his actions.

The Shiv Sena, meanwhile, has asked Gaikwad to explain his actions.

The incident took place Thursday at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International airport on Air India flight AI 852 after it reached the national capital from Pune.

Gaikwad got into an argument with the flight's staff over not being given a business class seat, despite having a ticket for the same.

The MP refused to leave the aircraft, which was on the tarmac and which had to leave for Goa, until senior airline officials met him.

Finally, after intervention from the ground staff, Gaikwad agreed to deboard the plane. He, however, got into an argument 61-year-old Surendra Kundu, an Air India customer services officer, at the arrival gate.

On being told by Kundu that Gaikwad, being an elected representative, should not behave in this manner, the MP got agitated and started slapping Kundu with his slippers.

Later in the day, when questioned by the media, the unrepentant Gaikwad boasted about how he knows how to 'fix' people's ego and said that he had hit Kundu not once, but "25 times".

Meanwhile, a new video has surfaced showing Gaikwad scolding DSP of Osmnabad, the MP's constituency, over a case involving missing Shiv Sena workers.

The MP can be heard shouting at the DSP, Chandrakant Khandvi, in Marathi, asking him to explain why the case is unsolved and questioning the need for a written complaint.

The video depicts events from March 21, just two days before Gaikwad got into the scuffle with the AI