A passenger hacks the IndiGo website to track down his misplaced luggage

An IndiGo passenger who lost his luggage shared his “low-key hacker moment” on Twitter and narrated how he managed to find it back all by himself. After Nandan Kumar’s Twitter thread went viral, the airlines responded by saying their IT processes are completely robust and the website was not compromised.

Kumar, whose Twitter bio says he is a software engineer, boarded an IndiGo flight from Patna to Bengaluru on March 27 and his bag got exchanged with his co-passenger as their luggage was similar in appearance.

https://twitter.com/sirius93/status/1508423479594733568

He contacted IndiGo’s customer care agents but their efforts in connecting him with the co-passenger were not fruitful. Citing privacy and data protection, the airline company did not provide him with the contact details of the co-passenger.

Tired of waiting for the call promised by IndiGo, he decided to “take the matter into his own hands”. Kumar tried to get the details of the co-passenger from the website by using the PNR written on the bag tag.

“So, today morning I started digging into the indigo website trying the co passenger’s PNR which was written on the bag tag in the hope to get the address or number by trying different methods like check-in, edit booking, update contact, But no luck whatsoever,” Kumar tweeted.

Mr Kumar's suitcase (R) and his co-passenger's one (L) looked alike (Image Courtesy - BBC)

Kumar said his “dev instinct” then prompted him to press F12, which helped him open the developer console on the IndiGo website. He then managed to get his co-passengers details and later got their bags swapped after meeting them in person.

Tagging IndiGo, the engineer suggested the airline company make their customer service more proactive than reactive. He also noted that the website leaks sensitive data and asked them to get it fixed.

The Twitter thread grabbed netizens’ attention and some users found it interesting and funny while others pointed out that hacking a website was not right.

https://twitter.com/IndiGo6E/status/1508748146717130758

As the man’s account got attention on Twitter, IndiGo stated in response.“Due to data privacy policy, we're not allowed to share any of the passenger's information therefore, our customer care team tried to arrange a conference call to facilitate the exchange of baggage,” it said.

“Our IT processes are completely robust and, at no point was the lndiGo website compromised,” the airline said.

IndiGo on Thursday, March 31 announced that pilots' salaries have been increased by 8% because of the continuous steady flight operations.

Full regular international flight services resumed in India after the COVID-19 outbreak on March 27. Full regular domestic flights resumed in the country on October 18, 2021.

"Now, as we have established continuous steady operations, on behalf of our managing director, the board of directors and the senior leadership team, I am pleased to announce an upwards revision of eight per cent in the salaries of all our pilots with effect from April 1. The human resources team of the airline would share the revised salary structure in the coming weeks.Further, as we look forward to a positive revenue environment and hopefully we do not witness any further interruptions to operations, we also plan to implement an additional 6.5 per cent revision with effect from November 1.I would like to personally thank each one of you for your contribution and we must continue to provide a safe, efficient, hassle free and of course on-time experience to all our passengers! Let us continue our journey towards excellence."Ashim Mittra, Senior Vice-President (Flight Operations), IndiGo

The pilots were disheartened after the airline gave ESOPs to top management people. Their WhatsApp group were agog with chats about the payouts — while their cuts continue — and joining bonus being offered by billionaire Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s upcoming Akasa.

While the demand for air travel was severely impacted in India during the first two waves of coronavirus, the sentiment recovered rapidly after the third wave, witnessed predominantly in the month of January-February of this year.

IndiGo plans to resume international flights on around 150 international routes through April

India has also resumed scheduled international passenger flights from March 27 and several airlines, including IndiGo, are betting big on international flights on the back of strong revenue potential.

ALSO READ - Indigo resumes flights between India and Thailand after 2-year hiatus

IndiGo plans to resume international flights on around 150 international routes through April and aims to restore pre-COVID international flights deployment.

The domestic traffic is also witnessing strong passenger sentiment at around 80-85% of the pre-COVID level with recovery led by corporate traffic.

The Union government said it has shortlisted two of the four sites suggested by the Tamil Nadu government to build a second airport in Chennai and is awaiting a response from the State government. 

The Tamil Nadu government had shortlisted Parandur, Pannur, Tiruporur, and Padalam as four sites for the second airport.

“From the four sites, we have selected two and have reverted to State government, waiting for [an] answer on the final site so that the work can be initiated to make sure that the second airport in Chennai comes to life as soon as possible.”Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Minister of Civil Aviation

It was in 2007, when the DMK regime was in power, that the then Union government approved a 4,000-acre site for Chennai’s second airport in Sriperumbudur. 15 years have passed and the second airport is still on paper.

Hunt for a greenfield airport started in 1999 when AAI and State government decided to work together to develop a new international airport in Chennai.

ALSO READ - Chennai Airport to get parallel runway

The Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) was tasked with identifying the land, and Scott Wilson Kirkpatric was appointed as a technical consultant.

2 sites were shortlisted for the development of Chennai's second airport

They identified five locations — Manapakkam-Gerugambakkam-Kolappakkam belt; West Tambaram; Maraimalai; Sriperumbudur; and areas near Vandalur.

A greenfield airport for Chennai requires at least 2,000 to 3,000 acres of land. Now, TIDCO will hold discussions with the State government on the next course of action for choosing a site.

An Airports Authority of India (AAI) official said that more studies, including technical studies, will be undertaken after the state government selects a final location. The locations on the Bengaluru highway would be beneficial for the industries in the Sriperumbudur region.

15 years have passed and the second airport is still on paper.

"The highway would facilitate easy access from the city. There can be plans to improve the road and to build rail or mass rapid transit system services for better connectivity in the future," the official added.

The erstwhile AIADMK government was considering Parandur but the plan did not materialise. TIDCO had floated a tender but bidders backed out as a site was not finalised by the government. As there was a delay, the AAI considered different options.

There were discussions for a scaled-down facility on 2,000 acres or a full-fledged facility on around 4,500 acres. There were also discussions within AAI to move international flights to the new airport and develop it into an 'aero city' with MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) unit and aviation ancillary industries.

IndiGo launched its direct flight between Bhopal and Chennai deploying its A320, a 150-seat aircraft.

IndiGo launched its direct flight between Bhopal and Chennai deploying its A320, a 150-seat aircraft. Jyotiraditya Scindia and Minister of State for Civil Aviation (Gen) Dr VK Singh (retd) inaugurated the flight service, according to a release. The connectivity is expected to boost commerce and tourism.

Scindia said: “It’s a fortunate day for me that the heart of India [Bhopal] is being connected to the centre of development, business, progress as well as religious emotions [Chennai]. From July 2021, Bhopal is connected [by air] with 10 cities — Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Pune, Prayagraj, Agra, Ahmedabad, Raipur, and Chennai. There is also an increase in weekly flights from  Bhopal from 94 to 216 flights, an increase of 150%.”

A Delhi court has dismissed the anticipatory bail plea filed by SpiceJet promoter Ajay Singh about a fraud case, Senior Advocate Vikas Pahwa representing the complainant said.

According to the published report in MoneyControl, a written order from the court to this effect is awaited still and is expected to be passed on March 31.

SpiceJet promoter Ajay Singh's anticipatory bail application was denied by the Delhi Sessions Court

Singh has been appearing before the police for investigation in line with the court's March 9 direction, a SpiceJet spokesperson said. "Mr Ajay Singh, as per the Hon’ble Court’s directive, has already joined the investigation and appeared before the authorities. Therefore, no warrant or bail is relevant since these were to ensure his attendance."

Singh had moved the court seeking anticipatory bail after non-bailable warrants were issued against him in January for failing to appear before the police for investigation. Earlier this month, the court had protected Singh from coercive action while directing him to cooperate and participate in the investigation.

"Mr Singh will continue to extend full cooperation in the matter to bring this frivolous and mischievous complaint to a close," the SpiceJet spokesperson added.

The complaint against Singh for alleged fraud was filed in 2021 by a Delhi-based businessman, Sanjiv Nanda.

The protection from arrest for Singh was granted till March 28. The case was taken up for hearing once this period lapsed. Arguing for the complainants in the case, Pahwa told the court that Singh had not been cooperating with the investigating agencies and had also misdirected them.

The complaint against Singh for alleged fraud was filed in 2021 by a Delhi-based businessman, Sanjiv Nanda. The complainant alleged that a share-purchase agreement between Singh and Nanda's family was entered into for the transfer of a total of 25 lakh fully paid-up shares of SpiceJet towards Nanda's family members. These shares, however, were not transferred leading to the filing of the police complaint against Singh.

Following the complaint, the police registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Singh under the court's direction. Singh has been charged under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The investigation into the case is underway.

Ajay Singh also has NBW against his daughter Avani Singh.

On Singh's non-appearance before the police for investigation, non-bailable warrants against him came to be issued. This led to Singh seeking anticipatory bail from the court.

On March 9, Singh issued a statement claiming to have offered full cooperation to the investigating agencies and expressed willingness to appear before the police in person. Singh also stated that the dispute was civil and the police complaint was "frivolous and mischievous."

This is not the only FIR registered against Singh. At least two other FIRs are registered against him. Non-bailable warrants (NBWs) have been issued against them in both these cases. Not only this, but he also has NBW against his daughter Avani Singh.

InterGlobe Aviation, the parent company of IndiGo airline, on Tuesday, March 29 appointed Gaurav Negi as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in place of Jiten Chopra who has put in his resignation, a statement said.

Before joining IndiGo, Negi spent 22 years with General Electric Company, where he was part of their Global Leadership programmes in finance and executive management, said the InterGlobe Aviation's statement that was posted on BSE.

Gaurav Negi succeeds Jiten Chopra as CFO of IndiGo

"In his last role with GE, Mr Negi was the CFO for onshore wind (segment of GE Renewable Energy headquartered in Paris, France), APAC and Non-Executive Director, GE Transmission & Distribution (GE T&D) India," it added.

Mr Negi had joined IndiGo as Senior Vice President and Head -- Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) on December 1, 2021. Mr Negi is a Commerce graduate from Hindu College, Delhi University, and a Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

IndiGo, is an Indian low-cost airline headquartered in Gurgaon, India. It is the largest airline in India by passengers carried and fleet size, with a 53.5% domestic market share as of October 2021. 

It is also the largest individual Asian low-cost carrier in terms of jet fleet size and passengers carried, and the sixth-largest carrier in Asia with over 6.4 crore passengers carried in the financial year 2018–19.

The airline operated 1,500 daily flights as of 2019 to 96 destinations – 71 domestic and 25 international. It has its primary hub at Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi.

The airline was founded as a private company by Rahul Bhatia of InterGlobe Enterprises and Rakesh Gangwal in 2006. It took delivery of its first aircraft in July 2006 and commenced operations a month later. The airline became the largest Indian carrier by passenger market share in 2012.

Technology and aviation go hand in hand and Boeing just took this initiative a notch higher-collaborating with Microsoft to update its critical infrastructure, streamline business processes and accelerate innovations in digital aviation.

Automation and digitization have taken off ever since the advent of computers with the aviation industry now looking to deploy artificial intelligence to take over seemingly mundane and complex tasks.

Representative | FlightGlobal

Reportedly, as a part of strengthening their partnership, Boeing will be looking to leverage Microsoft Cloud and its Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities to use data-driven approaches to update technology infrastructure and mission-critical applications.

Representative | Aviation Today

Today’s announcement represents a significant investment in Boeing’s digital future. Our strategic partnership with Microsoft will help us realize our cloud strategy by removing infrastructure restraints, properly scaling to unlock innovation and further strengthening our commitment to sustainable operationsBoeing's Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice President of Information Technology & Data Analytics, Susan Doniz, said on April 6 during the announcement of the venture

Susan Doniz | The Business Journals

Microsoft as a company has been carbon neutral since 2012. Apparently, it also runs a program called 'AI for Earth'-that awards grants to support projects that use AI to change the way people and organizations relate to the planet and the natural world.

The implementation of AI in data optimization is touted to have great potential, beyond more obvious applications such as fuel efficiency, in slashing aviation's overall environmental impact.

Artificial intelligence is coming with a fast pace and being adopted widely, including in the aviation domain. While the concept of AI has been in existence since the 1950s, its development has significantly accelerated in the last decade due to three concurrent factors: the capacity to collect and store massive amounts of data, the increase in computing power, and the development of increasingly powerful algorithms and architectures.Jean-Marc Cluzeau, principal advisor to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Executive Director, stated during  the December 2020 Global Symposium on the Implementation of Innovation in Aviation hosted by the International Civil Aviation Organization

Boeing and Microsoft have been collaborating for more than two decades and Boeing was among the first aerospace proponent to leverage the Microsoft Cloud, centralizing many of its market-leading digital aviation applications on Microsoft Azure and using artificial intelligence to drive customer outcomes and streamline operations.

Microsoft

The power of the Microsoft Cloud and its AI capabilities will serve as the core component to Boeing’s digital aviation strategy by providing flexible, agile and scalable solutions that are intelligent and data driven on a secure and compliant platformsaid Judson Althoff, EVP and chief commercial officer at Microsoft

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