Air India subsidiaries to be privatised soon

The process to sell three erstwhile subsidiaries of Air India and real estate including the iconic Air India building in Mumbai will be initiated by the government soon.

The government sold Air India to the Tata Group, along with Air India Express and a 50% stake in ground handling company Air India Singapore Airport Terminal Services. These were handed over to the new owners in late January.

The other assets - engineering subsidiary AI Engineering Services, ground-handling unit AI Air Transport Services and domestic carrier Alliance Air, along with real estate including the Air India Building in Mumbai's Nariman Point - are now held under a government-owned entity, AI Asset Holdings Ltd (AIAHL).

ALSO READ - Centre begins work on privatisation of Alliance Air & other Air India subsidiaries

Govt moves to sell Air India subsidiaries.

The government has started work on the proposed sale of Air India subsidiaries with road shows underway for discussions with prospective bidders including the Bird Group, Celebi Aviation and I Squared Capital.

"We have roadshows going on with prospective bidders. We already have cabinet approval for selling all the subsidiaries.We have been in communication with the Bird Group for some time now. Our plan is to monetise the subsidiaries, and set-off liabilities as soon as possible. The dues are increasing and adding to the debt."An official told.

ALSO READ - Celebi Aviation interested in bidding for Air India’s ground handling unit

Bird Group, Celebi Aviation, and I Squared Capital has shown interest in taking over Air India Air Transport Services Ltd (AIATSL), which is a subsidiary of Air India. The other subsidiaries include Airline Allied Services Ltd (AASL) or Alliance Air, Air India Engineering Services Ltd (AIESL) and Hotel Corporation of India Ltd (HCI) which are held by Air India Assets Holding Ltd, a special purpose vehicle set up in 2019 for holding the non-core assets and debt of Air India.

Govt hopes to earn Rs 16,000 crore from the sale of 3 Air India ex-units.

Bird Group is one of the largest third-party ground handling companies based out of Delhi. Celebi Aviation Holding is a ground handling company based out of Turkey and I Squared Capital is a private equity firm focusing on global infrastructure investment.

The central government earlier this year transferred the ownership of Air India to Tata Group after the latter emerged as the winning bidder for buying the loss-making carrier.

The Rajasthan government has sanctioned INR 37.75 crore for expansion work at 10 airstrips in the state.

An official statement said Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has approved the fund for various airstrip development works including boundary wall construction, campus wall construction and airstrip refurbishment.

Of these, INR 14 crore will be given for shifting the mega highway and Buddha Mandavar Road and construction of a boundary wall for the Kolana (Jhalawar) airstrip, and INR 4 crore for increasing the height of the boundary wall of the Abu Road (Sirohi) airstrip and other works there.

INR 37.75 crore was sanctioned for the development & expansion of 10 airstrips of Rajsthan

As much as INR 1.97 crore has been allocated for works at the Phalodi (Jodhpur) airstrip, INR 3.40 crore for the Talwara (Banswara) airstrip, INR 4.60 crore for the Padihara (Churu) airstrip, INR 4.50 crore for the Sirohi airstrip.

The government allocated INR 2 crore each for the Tarapura (Sikar) airstrip and the Kumher (Bharatpur) airstrip, INR 1.23 crore for the Sawai Madhopur airstrip and INR 5 lakh for the Hamirgarh (Bhilwara) airstrip.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) plans to connect more than 50 wildlife and tourism destinations in the next stage of the regional connectivity initiative Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik (UDAN).

ALSO READ - UDAN 5.0 to air connect 54 wildlife and tourism destinations

The government has prepared a list of potential airports. Most of these destinations already have either an underserved or unserved airstrip.

It has identified 54 new destinations for the next phase of the scheme. The fifth phase of the scheme — is to be called UDAN 5.0. — will aim to add or revive airstrips closer to wildlife sanctuaries, tourist destinations or spiritual places. 

The government has prepared a list of potential airports. Most of these destinations already have either an underserved or unserved airstrip.

The list includes 10 airstrips, which are near wildlife sanctuaries like Ranthambore (Sawai Madhopur) and Bharatpur in Rajasthan, Bishnupur, also cultural destinations in West Bengal, Yavatmal in Maharashtra, Satna, Dhana and Mandla in Madhya Pradesh and  Nagarjuna Sagar in Andhra Pradesh. 

Air India on Monday, September 12 said it will progressively induct 30 new aircraft, including 5 wide-body Boeing planes, from December 2022, as the Tatas-owned airline looks to boost its domestic and international services.

The airline has signed leases and letters of intent for inducting 5 wide-body Boeing and 25 Airbus narrow-body planes over the next 15 months. The planes being leased include 21 Airbus A320 neos, 4 Airbus A321 neos and 5 Boeing B777-200LRs.

ALSO READ - Air India in process of expanding the fleet for the upcoming holidays; plans to lease B777s from Delta

Air India to revamp its fleet by leasing 30 aircraft in the upcoming months

Changing its business model, Air India has decided to introduce a premium economy class in all newly-leased planes. Air India's existing fleet is mostly limited to economy and business class. A few planes in its fleet also have first class.

Vistara, which is a 51:49 joint venture of the Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, is the only other airline in India that offers premium economy class.

"These new aircraft, which will enter service from late 2022, will increase the airline's fleet by over 25%. Not counting the 10 long-grounded narrow-body and 6 wide-body aircraft that have been returned to service in recent months, these new aircraft mark the first major fleet expansion since Air India's acquisition by the Tata Group earlier this year."Air India

The B777-200LRs will join the fleet between December 2022 and March 2023. They will be deployed on routes from Indian metro cities to the US.

ALSO READ - Air India plans to lease B777s for long-haul flights to North America

Mumbai will see the addition of flights to San Francisco as well as to both of the New York area's international airports, Newark Liberty and John F Kennedy, while Bangalore will receive a 3x weekly service to San Francisco.

Changing its business model, Air India has decided to introduce a premium economy class in all newly-leased planes.

There has been a huge demand for Air India flights on India-US and India-Canada routes, especially after the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020 and the Russia-Ukraine war earlier this year.

Since the start of the pandemic, the India-US traffic that passed through the eastern side -- one-stop flights via Hong Kong or Beijing -- has reduced significantly. After the Ukraine attack, Russia banned American and Canadian carriers from flying through its airspace. That forced many airlines to curtail their India-US flights.

"After a long time without significant growth, Air India is delighted to resume expanding its fleet and global footprint. These new aircraft, together with existing aircraft being returned to service, address an immediate need for more capacity and connectivity, and mark a strong step forward."Campbell Wilson, CEO and Managing Director, Air India

"These aircraft will result in Air India offering Premium Economy haul flights for the first time," the statement said. According to the release, the 4 A321 neo aircraft are expected to join the fleet in the first quarter of the calendar year 2023, while the 21 A320 neos will be inducted in the second half of 2023.

These aircraft will be deployed in domestic sectors as well as for short-haul international destinations.

Air India's wide-body fleet stands at 43 aircraft, of which 33 are operational.

Currently, the airline's narrow-body fleet stands at 70 aircraft. Out of them, 54 are in service and the remaining 16 aircraft will progressively return to service by early 2023. Air India's wide-body fleet stands at 43 aircraft, of which 33 are operational. The rest will return to service by early 2023.

Air India will redesign flight schedules, hold nightly meetings, and ask employees to accurately report flight delays and their causes to improve the carriers’ on-time performance (OTP), Campbell had said earlier this month.

The Tata Group on October 8 last year won the bid for Air India at INR 18,000 crore and it completed the acquisition earlier this year.

What is Advanced Air Mobility?

According to NASA, Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) is "a system of air transportation that transfers people and freight between places previously not serviced or underserved by aviation - local, regional, intraregional, and urban - employing revolutionary new aircraft that are only just now becoming feasible." Being at the intersection of three emerging trends—electrification, distributed propulsion, and autonomy—it is aerospace's newest market and, in recent years, the one that has spurred the bulk of innovation.

With all the buzz around UAM, it's time to focus on how this vision might eventually come to fruition. The goal includes both new system technologies and aircraft designs. Some of the new aircraft designs are expected to have features like vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) capability for commuting in urban areas.

It may be conceivable for these operations to be used more frequently and in more places as a result of the development of electric VTOLs (eVTOLs) and distributed electric propulsion (DEP). Initial operations, according to industry experts, will be flown by a pilot in command (PIC) on the VTOL aircraft. The potential for totally autonomous sky transportation using remote PICs is seen in the future.

Joby's Aviation S4 | Representative | eVTOLnews

In a report recently released by ResearchAndMarkets.com titled "Urban Air Mobility Market Size, Share, Study By Component, By Operations By Range, And Segment Forecasts," it is predicted that by 2028, the market for air metro will be viable and may even displace more traditional modes of public transportation like buses and subways.

According to the report, the market for urban air transportation is expanding most quickly in Europe. In addition, it is anticipated that the global market for urban air transportation will grow to $7.9 billion by 2030.

Airbus A3, AIRSPACEX, Carter Aviation, Passenger Drone, Lilium Aviation, Volocopter, Aurora Flight Sciences (A Boeing Company), Joby Aviation, Workhorse, Delorean Aerospace, XTI Aircraft, AviaNovations, and Embraer are just a few businesses that have created eVTOL prototypes.

Why it matters?

The future of UAM is touted to offer a solution to one of the largest issues facing the globe today- namely traffic and has many advantages over existing modes of transportation in the form of reduced infrastructure needs, comfortability, and trip time.

VoloCity | Representative | Radio Colona

Air taxis are envisioned as a speedier, and perhaps more effective, alternative to land travel for intercity or intracity transit. They are mostly used for short-distance travel and are not intended to replace aeroplanes.

Headwinds ahead

With urban air mobility, there are still issues to be solved, just like with any new technology or system. For instance, the public needs to be convinced of the safety of eVTOL technology. Compared to driving, air travel has a far lower accident rate, but there are also many more risks.

Especially considering that businesses want these cars to operate automatically and without a pilot. Before sufficient trust can be established between this technology and its user, it can take a lengthy time.

Representative | Fox News

Air taxis, unlike cars, would not be able to transport passengers from point A to point B directly. It would be from one station to another instead. This implies that to produce an effective and seamless travel experience, integration across various modes of transportation would need to be put into practice. Otherwise, it might appear less practical to fly somewhere only to need to change vehicles to go where you're going.

The AAM industry has about 700 participants, and more are joining every week. Additionally, venture finance, private equity, SPACs, automotive firms, long-standing aerospace OEMs, and tech firms have all made sizeable investments in OEMs.

However, there is a sizable degree of healthy scepticism present with the enthusiasm that greets every new business. How can businesses, suppliers, and investors quickly determine which companies will dominate the industry and which ones will not be as successful as they had planned given all the new arrivals and interest in the sector?

Is the AAM infrastructure suitable for the impending commercial service now that the first vehicles are only a few years away from certification?

Presenting the AAM Reality Index (ARI)

The ARI is a rating tool that is based on a formula that incorporates both expert knowledge and information that is available to the general public. It aids in determining how well newcomers to the market are doing in terms of delivering certified goods produced in large quantities.

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As can be seen above;

Corporate sponsors include AIRBUS, EAVIATION (TEXTRON), HONDA MOTOR COMPANY, PIPISTREL (TEXTRON), SUPERNAL, and VOLKSWAGENKITTY HAWK is financed privatelyEstimated pre-acquisition financing data for ELECTRA, pre-Boeing 2022 investment funding data for WISK, and pre-SPAC funding data for EVE HOLDING

March 2022 release | AAM Reality Index

How is the ARI determined? How do you interpret the ratings?

The ARI is based on five factors:

the company's fundingits management teamthe technology readiness of its vehiclesthe status of those vehicles' certificationthe readiness of those vehicles for full-scale manufacturing

The methodology rates each applicant from 0 to 10 points.

As there is clustering at particular periods in the product lifecycle, a one decimal point to distinguish across entrants is deployed. An organisation that is only considering the market with little to no finance is represented as a 0 on the ARI tool.

A corporation with a commercial product produced in thousands of units annually is represented by a 10 on the ARI tool. No business could now create 10,000 vehicles annually since no one in the aerospace industry can do so.

Vehicle Configuration(s)

aamrealityindex

Possible EIS (Entry Into Service) of various eVTOL companies

Early innovators, lesser-known companies, and aircraft OEMs make up the eVTOL sector (OEMs). Vehicles go between 20 and 250 n.m. at speeds between 70 and 250 mph. with rotor/pusher or tilt-rotor configurations. Because intracity UAM is a new company, prospective participants intend to be both operators and OEMs.

Many eVTOLs aims for EIS and aeroplane certification in 2024–2026. The method is drawn-out and difficult. The approval of protocols for pilot training, facilities, and maintenance are also necessary.

SOURCE(s): aamrealityindex | SMG consulting

COVER: Global Times

Akasa Air, India’s newest airline, is leading on pay hikes for pilots, marking a reversal of the pandemic-era aviation squeeze that saw salary cuts and job losses globally, said people with knowledge of the matter.

This is likely to set off salary increases at other carriers to ensure they have enough pilots as air traffic recovers amid fleet expansion and Gulf carriers embarking on a hiring spree, they said.

Akasa raised pilot pay by an average of 60% — captains will start at INR 4.5 lakh a month and first officers at INR 1.8 lakh — from October. This is against INR 2.79 lakh and INR 1.11 lakh, respectively, at present.

Akasa Air is leading on pay hikes for pilots; raised pay by 60%

Depending on experience and hours flown, the pay could be higher. At the maximum limit of 70 hours per month, a captain can earn INR 8 lakh, about 28% more than INR 6.25 lakh now, said the people cited above.

ALSO READ - Akasa Air to expand operations with 150 weekly flights

The carrier needs more pilots for the rapid expansion it has planned, said people with knowledge of the matter. The airline currently has four Boeing 737 Maxs and plans to induct 18 more planes by March 2023. An airline typically needs 12 pilots per aircraft, including reserves.

ALSO READ - Big plane order may be placed by Akasa Air in the next 18 months

“The airline needs to build up a pool of pilots and a solid bench strength,” said a person aware of the development. “With Tatas starting expansion and hiring pilots, and Middle East airlines opening up rapid hiring, there is little option other than to hike pay to attract more pilots.”

Akasa currently has four Boeing 737 Maxs and plans to induct 18 more planes by March 2023.

Tata group’s plans include the revival of Air India and expansion of Vistara. The transfer can have a cascading impression as different Indian carriers must increase salaries to forestall attrition.

The senior administration of Air India Categorical, which can be planning an enlargement, held a gathering over the weekend to guarantee its crew of an enhancement within the wage construction and mentioned folks with data on the matter.

Akasa’s pay bundle is 8-10% % larger than what market chief IndiGo shall be paying its captains from November, by when salaries on the firm shall be absolutely restored, having been lower by practically 28% in the course of the pandemic downturn.

Akasa raised pilot pay by an average of 60% — captains will start at INR 4.5 lakh a month and first officers at INR 1.8 lakh — from October

“IndiGo expects a race in hiring pilots and has ready by constructing a bench energy,” mentioned an airline govt.

The airline, which operates around 1,500 flights, has resumed hiring pilots for its Airbus A320 fleet. It has additionally elevated the tempo of changing first officers to captains to virtually 30 pilots monthly.

“Upgrading eligible first officers to captains can be a type of crew retention coverage,” the chief mentioned. “The corporate’s fast enlargement tempo signifies that the wait time for improve is pretty negligible, as in comparison with rivals.”

(With Inputs from The Economic Times)

Several domestic airlines and one international airline have announced vacancies for the position of cabin crew and pilots across multiple locations in India. The sudden demand for crew comes as passenger volumes have seen a significant surge following the two-year Covid-19 pandemic-induced lockdown.

The hiring comes as the Indian aviation sector sees a significant rise in passenger volumes after the two-year lockdown.

The skies have opened up for those in the aviation industry – in more ways than one. Air traffic has revived after two years of the pandemic and with two new airlines – Akasa Air and Jet Airways – hiring, opportunities are back on the horizon for pilots and cabin crew.

The hiring spree starts for major Indian carriers.

A simple, straightforward advertisement appeared in newspapers. It read, “Alliance Air invites applications for various posts”, with “various posts” highlighted in bold.

Before that, last month, a call from Jet Airways inviting cabin crew applications brought in over 700 CVs in five hours flat, the airline’s CEO Sanjiv Kapoor tweeted.

"We are committed to bolstering our team and further strengthening the customer experience for travellers, while we boost our operational capabilities by seeking the right people. Qatar Airways has always had a special bond with India and with this recruitment drive, we are further solidifying our commitment to the market.”Akbar Al Baker, Chief Executive Officer, Qatar Airways Group

AirAisa India and Vistara have conducted their recruitment drives, and Qatar, IndiGo and Air India are still looking for candidates. Qatar Airways Group has also announced that it is looking to onboard new employees from India to support its global operations and enhance customer experience over the coming months.

ALSO READ - IndiGo is on the hiring spree as it ramps operations

Indian carriers also losing pilots, and cabin crew to airlines in West Asia and elsewhere.

And on July 2 when another airline, Air India, held job interviews, the cabin crew of IndiGo skipped work en masse to participate.

ALSO READ - IndiGo initiates disciplinary action after several technicians call in sick

Air India is holding walk-in interviews for cabin crew at Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Guwahati and Goa. The national airline is also looking to hire senior trainee pilots for its Airbus fleet, and pilots for Boeing B777 planes.

Air Asia India last week held a recruitment drive for cabin crew in Gurugram for the Delhi-National Capital Region. It had also conducted hiring drives for cabin crew in Delhi, Bengaluru, Pune, Dehradun and Lucknow.

Vistara which operates Airbus A320, A321 and Boeing B787 aircraft, has also conducted recruitment programmes for cabin crew in Bengaluru and Mumbai, recently.

ALSO READ - Vistara plans to hire 5,000 staff in 2022 as air traffic improves

The Indian aviation sector is also seeing an uptick in hiring due to the arrival of new airlines.

Competition is likely to soar in the country's aviation sector during 2022, as new players enter the market going all guns blazing to hire the best talent to ensure a perfect take-off.

The great Indian talent war is on in the domestic aviation landscape which has seen a lot of upheaval in the past two years owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the post-pandemic revival and new players entering the industry.