Defusing air rage: Airlines should take a tough line against unruly VIP behaviour
“Air rage” — or sudden and violent behaviour by a passenger affecting those who work on flights or associated people — is a menace that has led to civil aviation authorities issuing strict guidelines on deterrence and punishment for those responsible for such acts. In India, while the laws on unruly and disruptive behaviour in an airliner are clear, they are difficult to enforce when the perpetrators take the cover of their positions of power. The outrageous conduct of Ravindra Gaikwad, the Member of Parliament from Osmanabad who belongs to the Shiv Sena, with Air India staff after seeking a business class seat in an all-economy flight from Pune to Delhi, required more than just a legal response by the airline. The Air India cabin crew had its task cut out but handled the incident well as can be gleaned from raw video images of what transpired on March 23. The consequent steps taken by the national carrier and members of the Federation of Indian Airlines to put him on a “no-fly list” is a welcome one. While the Aircraft Rules of 1937 have outlined a course of actions to be taken after such disruptive behaviour, the application of a “no-fly list” is a new development and is in line with similar practices adopted in many countries. This practice should deter such outrageous actions by anyone, irrespective of whether the malefactor is in a position of power or not. Matt Tennyson Womens Jersey
Narendra Modi powers-up HAL’s indigenisation drive, India’s military may get 100 planes, 1,000 helicopters soon
State-run aerospace behemoth Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has finalised a major plan to manufacture nearly 1,000 military helicopters and over a hundred planes, in tune with government’s focus on speeding up defence indigenisation. HAL Chairman and Managing Director T Suvarna Raju said the company has also ramped up its infrastructure to deliver 123 Tejas Light Combat Aircraft to the India Air Force with an annual delivery of 16 jets from 2018-19 onwards. In the next five years, the HAL will also carry out major upgrade of almost the entire fighter fleet of IAF including Su-30MKI, Jaguars and Mirage jets, making them more lethal, he said. “Next five years will be really vibrant time for HAL. We are upgrading almost every major platform including Sukhois, Jaguars, Mirage and Hawks. “We are going to build around 1,000 helicopters including Kamov 226, LCH (Light Combat Helicopter) ALH (Advanced Light Helicopter) in the next 10 years,” Raju told PTI in an interview. The HAL and Russian defence firms have finalised a Joint Venture agreement for production of light weight multi-role ‘Kamov 226T’ helicopters in India which will replace the aging fleet of Cheetah and Chetak choppers. The inter-government agreement for the deal was signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Russia in December, 2015. Cody Parkey Jersey
Raj govt signs MoU for expansion of Jodhpur airport
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was today signed between the Rajasthan government and other stakeholders for transferring 37 acres of land for development and expansion of the civil airport in Jodhpur. The state government signed the MoU with the Air Force, the Airport Authority of India (AAI) and the Jodhpur Nagar Nigam (JNN). The state government through JNN in lieu of the provided land, will provide 106 acres of land to the Air Force. The MoU was signed in presence of Jodhpur MP Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Mayor Ghanshyam Ojha and other distinguished public representatives, and Air Force officials. According to the MoU, the state government will transfer 106 acres of its land contiguous to the airfield by JNN/state government. Jack Butler Jersey
Air India considering no-fly list after MP assaults staffer
Air India is examining creating a no-fly list for unruly passengers — a negative entry list which will mean that a person mentioned in that will not be allowed to fly on flights operated by the national carrier. This follows an incident on Thursday at the IGI airport here in which Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad assaulted an Air India staffer after he was upset that despite having a business class ticket he was made to travel in the economy class. Sources told BusinessLine that early on Thursday the airline received a call from the MP’s staff that Gaikwad would be travelling to Delhi from Pune on AI 852. Since the MP was holding an “open business class” ticket, the airline staff informed them that they could consider travelling on another AI flight as business class seating on that particular flight had been discontinued. Sources in AI claimed that Gaikwad agreed to travel on the flight despite knowing that there was no business class seating in it. However, when the flight landed in Delhi at 9.40, Gaikwad was “agitated” and declined to get off the aircraft demanding that senior officials of the rank of Chairman and other Directors come to meet him and address his complaint on the spot. Sukumar, a former Air India crew member who was the senior most person at the AISATS, was deputed to pacify the MP. AISATS, an airport services company, is a 50:50 joint venture between Air India Ltd and SATS Ltd, a leading gateway services and food solutions provider.. The MP lost his temper when Sukumar told him that being an elected representative of the people, he should conduct himself accordingly. In reaction to this, the MP took off his slipper and hit the AISATS employee and pushed him out of the aircraft’s exit door. Sources claimed that crew members and others intervened and physically restrained the MP from causing further harm to the employee. Sources also claim that Air India and Sukumar will be registering FIRs against the MP. Air India will register the FIR for “forcibly holding the flight, due to which it was delayed by 40 minutes.” Justin Bailey Jersey
Over 57,000 airline snags reported since 2014: Government
There have been over 57,000 technical snags reported by airlines in India between 2014 and February this year, the government said today. The number of snags have also grown by over 20 per cent in 2016 compared to the previous year with these glitches going up from 17,483 to 21,500, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha. These technical snags include fires during flight, engine shutdown, defects related to landing gear and cracks on aircraft structure, among others. Recently, there have been at least six incidents of snags reported from Pratt & Whitney engines that power Airbus 320 Neo planes operated by IndiGo and GoAir prompting the government to conduct a “detailed review”. Kentavius Street Jersey
Surrender routes unused for 6 months: DGCA to airlines
The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has asked airlines to surrender routes that they haven’t operated flights in even after six months of being allocated. The move comes after the aviation regulator found some routes being underutilised, and realised that these could benefit domestic airlines like Go Air, Vistara and Air Asia, which are drawing up plans for flying international routes over the next two years. “The traffic rights allocated to an airline for a particular schedule period shall be fully utilized by it during the same schedule period. Failure to do so shall result in the unutilized rights reverting back to the aviation ministry at the end of the schedule period,” DGCA said in a notification on Tuesday. Till now, airlines were allowed to carry forward the route allocation meant to be used in the summer schedule to the following winter schedule. Airlines follow a summer and winter schedule in India and often effect major changes to their schedules due to climatic conditions like fog. “The defaulter airline may also apply afresh, if it so wishes, but it will be given the lowest priority among applicants, during allocation of rights. So, if say a Mumbai-Bali route is opted for by one carrier, but not operated, another airline can stake claim to it on priority for the next season,” said DGCA officials. The regulator has also done away with the need for airlines to seek approval on code share agreements (arrangement where two or more airlines share the same flight) from the civil aviation ministry. Vita Vea Jersey
DGCA deregisters 2 aircraft of grounded carrier Air Costa
The aviation regulator DGCA has deregistered two aircraft left with the grounded airline Air Costa. According to sources, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) wrote to the airline that its two Embraer aircraft have been removed from the Civil Aircraft Register. The Vijaywada—based airline has not flown since February and had cancelled bookings till May because of cash crunch and financial issues with the aircraft lessors. The latest action by the DGCA will effectively allow lessors to take back the aircraft from Air Costa, the sources said. The airline has also not paid salary to its 450 employees since January resulting in an exodus of employees, including 40 pilots. The employees are also planning a protest at the airline’s headquarters in Vijaywada demanding payment of their salary. The airline’s monthly wage bill stands at around Rs. 4 crore, the sources said. John Lynch Authentic Jersey
New US flight rules: Indian authorities await official word
Indian aviation authorities will wait for official communication from the US before deciding on whether to issue any travel advisory following the American government’s ban on big electronic devices in cabin baggage on flights from select Middle East and African nations. In a new order, the American government has barred travellers going to the US on flights from select countries from carrying large electronic devices like cameras and laptops as cabin baggage. As per the restrictions, passengers would have to check-in any devices bigger than a smartphone — including iPads, Kindles and laptops — before clearing security or boarding. The latest decision of the US administration is “more of a security issue rather than a safety issue”, a senior DGCA official told PTI. There is no official communication so far from the US authorities in this regard, he added. Since the matter pertains more to security aspects, a decision on whether to issue any kind of travel advisory is likely to be taken by the BCAS after discussions, the DGCA official said. Only after getting an official communication from the US, any decision would be taken, he added. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is primarily responsible for the safety aspects while the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) deals with the security issues. The open-ended ban would affect more than 50 flights from 10 airports, including major global hubs like Dubai and Istanbul, according to senior administration officials. Many flights to the US transit through the airports which have been included in the restrictions list. There is a possibility that Indian travellers transiting through these airports would have to comply with the new US norms. The 10 international airports covered under the ban are in Cairo, Egypt; Dubai and Abu Dhabi, UAE; Istanbul, Turkey; Doha, Qatar; Amman, Jordan; Kuwait City; Casablanca, Morocco; and Jeddah and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Samuel Morin Womens Jersey
“Transparency, fair trade will boost aviation”
The global aviation market is booming. A strong growth in passenger traffic in 2016, especially in India, has prompted both domestic and foreign airlines to focus more on the Indian aviation sector. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), passenger traffic rose 6.3 per cent in 2016, which is above the 10-year average annual growth rate of 5.5 per cent. The fourth-largest carrier in terms of total passengers carried on international routes, as per IATA, Lufthansa, which is the largest foreign carrier group operating between India and Europe – with a market share of 15 per cent, recently made Delhi its first global destination to launch the commercial service of its most modern long-haul aircraft, Airbus A350-900. In a conversation with Business Today’s Rajeev Dubey and Manu Kaushik, Carsten Spohr, Chairman of the Executive Board and Chief Executive Officer of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, and Wolfgang Will, Senior Director, South Asia, Lufthansa Group Airlines, spoke about the emerging trends in international aviation markets and Lufthansa’s India plans. Edited excerpts: Do you think the worst is over for the globalaviation industry? Which way is it headed now in terms of profitability? What about theconsolidation happening all over the world? Carsten Spohr: Let us start with the global perspective. First of all, this industry has never been safer than it is today. This is always worth mentioning when we talk about aviation. Second, the industry has been able to return its cost of capital on a global scale last year, and has been growing faster than the GDP [gross domestic product] around the world. From the global perspective, we are seeing better years than we probably had seen for a long time. It is obvious where markets are as open as they are fair. The markets where consolidation is taking place show better results than those parts of the world where competition is distorted by government subsidies or lack of consolidation. We will hopefully see more consolidation, like in the US, and more level-playing field in parts of the world where we don’t have it yet. How do you see the Indian market in this context, especially the capping of fares at `2,500 fordomestic flights with duration of up to two hours? As a frequent visitor to India, I am glad to see how well the country has understood the importance of aviation for a healthy economy. Obviously, there are huge challenges. Infrastructure is always a challenge when you have fast growth. India needs to make sure that this is a healthy and competitive industry. Again, wherever in the world we are, and in whichever industry we are in, trade can only be as open as it is fair, and that’s what regulators have to provide. With that, and the dynamics we see in this market, which is bigger than anywhere else in the world, we definitely see a healthier development of the aviation sector in India than we have seen for a long time. How do you see capping of fares? To be honest, as someone who doesn’t operate domestically, I leave this to Indian experts, who know more about it than I do. It’s probably not an issue for a global European carrier to get involved with. When you talk about government subsidies, we assume you are referring to some Middle East airlines. How much of a disruption is that for the global aviation industry? I think it’s a huge element of disruption. I see airlines from Europe and Asia leaving routes between Europe and Asia. The WTO [principles] apply to industries all over the world but aviation. We may not be able to bring aviation under the WTO, but nothing keeps us from applying the WTO principles. That’s our expectation from governments around the world, including the European Union, which is now assuming a stronger role in negotiating aviation. Is it [subsidy] largely a Middle East problem or does it happen in other parts of the world too? When it comes to the network of Lufthansa, the biggest impact comes from the Gulf… It’s a global industry, so we should have a global agreement thatopenness and fairness are in stable relationship with each other. The biggest subsidies come in which form – capital funding or pricing? There are various forms of subsidies around the world. The US carriers talk about subsidies of 41 billion euros for one region – the Gulf. In the end, it doesn’t matter which form of subsidy is given. We need to have fairness for all players in one particular market, and that’s how other industries have worked. How will the rise in global fuel prices impact airlines? How are you gearing up for a crude price hike? We should not be too nervous because the recent increase in fuel prices takes us nowhere near the high we have seen before. This industry has always been able to react to changes, even disruptive changes. I think what we are seeing right now is not unhealthy but something in the range of what we have seen over many years. I am not at all pessimistic about 2017. Has fuel cost as a percentage of total cost gone down? You do hedging to take care of fuel prices. If oil prices keep rising, do you have some mechanism to keep your profits intact? The Lufthansa group has shown healthy profits over the past years with varying fuel prices. One way for us to stabilise ourselves is hedging. One very important answer to high fuel price is modernisation of Lufthansa. We are introducing 40 new aircraft this year; we introduced 46 last year. The A350, which brought me here, uses 25 per cent less fuel per seat, and generates 50 per cent less noise. That’s the answer of Lufthansa. Modernisation is the answer to challenges. Of course, you need to be healthy to be able to make those investments. We are spending more than€2 billion euros a year on new aircraft and modernising Lufthansa, which not only
Airfares in India among ‘lowest’ globally, says Jayant Sinha
India has one of the lowest and “most competitive” airfares in the world despite high cost of planes and fuel, Union Minister Jayant Sinha said on Wednesday. “These are the two most important costs for an airline. Our taxes are also quite high,” said the Minister of State for Civil Aviation. “But when you look at pricing in India, as far as Indian airlines are concerned, I can assure you that we are among the lowest and most competitive air fares in the world,” he added. In efforts to make air travel more affordable as well as connect unserved and under-served airports, the government has come out with the regional connectivity scheme. Under the scheme — UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik) — fares are capped at Rs 2,500 for one-hour flights. “Our effort is to provide air services at an affordable cost and the regional connectivity scheme UDAN is aimed at that only,” Sinha said. At an event organised by All India Management Association (AIMA), Sinha said the country’s economy is delivering high quality products and services at very affordable prices for the consumers. “We are frugal economy because we are poor country… So we have to deliver product and services at price points which are affordable. This forces us to really think about affordability and cost management at all the time,” he noted. In terms of purchasing power parity, India’s GDP is around $8 trillion while it is about $18 trillion for both the US and China. According to Sinha, India is growing at 7-8 per cent while the US is expanding at 2.5 per cent and in the case of China the growth rate is pegged at 6 per cent. “It effectively means that the contribution that the Indian economy is going to make in the next decade in terms of relative contribution of growth rate of the US economy, is 180 per cent,” he noted. Further, he said that India’s contribution to global GDP growth in PPP terms in the next decade would be almost twice what the US is going to add. “…It is 60 per cent of China, which is still going to be larger. But we are 60 per cent of China, which is a much larger piece of $18 trillion,” he added. Martin Hanzal Jersey