Airbus to hire high-end engineering and IT talent from India at Hyderabad airshow

Aircraft manufacturer Airbus will unveil employment opportunities for high-end engineering and IT talents from India at the upcoming Wings India airshow later this week.

Airbus India said it is actively recruiting to fill positions in avionics software, aircraft system simulation and airframe structures. Additionally, opportunities also exist in digital technology roles such as cybersecurity, API development, full-stack development, big data, cloud and DevOps and IoT, the firm said on March 22.

“India’s strength lies in its talent, its ability to scale volume and the presence of perhaps the largest engineering and information technology partner ecosystems in the world.We will continue to tap India’s talent to contribute to our global programmes. I am confident that India’s world-class talent and research and development will power the future of the aerospace sector."Suraj Chettri, Regional Director - Human Resources, Airbus India & South Asia

The company supports about 7,000 jobs in India and is set to raise the number of engineering and IT positions to more than 2,000 by end of 2022, as part of its growth strategy for India, which foresees capacity building to address future requirements, including in sustainable and decarbonisation technologies.

But it did not give details of how many positions it is looking to fill in India, and what does increasing engineering and IT positions to 2,000 means in terms of actual additions this year.

Airbus to hire high-end engineering and IT talent from India at Hyderabad airshow

Airbus, however, said the recruitment plan for India is in line with the company’s growth forecast of around 6,000 new hires worldwide.

ALSO READ - Airbus A350 to be displayed at the Wings India 2022 airshow

The company said senior officials will attend the ‘meet-and-greet’ event at Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad, where job seekers can learn about Airbus, inquire about career opportunities with the company and apply for open positions.

ALSO READ - Hyderabad to host Wings India – Asia’s largest Civil Aviation show

Airbus India is also ramping up focus on in-sourcing core capabilities across the product life cycle

Airbus India's engineering operations are a key resource hub for capabilities in structural analysis, loads, aerodynamics, avionics software design and testing, system simulation, digital mock-up and system installation.

Airbus India is also ramping up focus on in-sourcing core capabilities across the product life cycle and ERP solutions as well as digital capabilities such as big data, Internet of Things, cloud, and cybersecurity. Today, parts or technology developed in India has become a critical factor in the production of all Airbus commercial aircraft.

Qatar Airways denied it owes Airbus SE USD 220 million in compensation for failing to accept A350 deliveries, in the latest salvo in a bitter legal dispute. 

The Gulf carrier said in documents made public Monday, March 21 that it didn’t break its contract with Airbus when it refused to take two of the wide-body jets, and said the planemaker hadn’t properly explained how it arrived at the figure. 

Qatar Airways denies owing USD 220 million to Airbus for rejected A350s

Qatar Airways, one of Airbus’s biggest customers, has been feuding with the planemaker over surface paint issues, rejecting further deliveries while the two sides argued and filed a lawsuit late in 2021. Airbus responded by cancelling orders for two A350s and a separate order for 50 A321s, a smaller plane.

ALSO READ - Airbus responds to Qatar Airways’s A350 dispute by cancelling A321 Order

Qatar Airways, which has asked for more than USD 700 million, said that the surface flaws could leave the plane vulnerable to damage from a lightning strike. The airline said the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, which has backed Airbus’s contention that there’s no safety issue, hasn’t undertaken an “extensive analysis.”  

ALSO READ - Qatar airways sue Airbus for USD 618mn over A350 paint issue

The manufacturer proposed a patch repair for one aircraft which Qatar said exhibited failings after one week.

Qatar Airways also listed other carriers that have flagged concerns with the A350. They include Finnair Oyj and Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., which both raised questions as far back as 2016 before the Hong Kong carrier later reported problems with multiple planes. By October 2019, Etihad and Air France/Air Caraibes Atlantique had also reported such damage, Qatar Airways said.  

The two sides also disagree over whether Airbus has adequately figured out the cause of the issue, and found suitable solutions. The manufacturer proposed a patch repair for one aircraft which Qatar said exhibited failings after one week. 

A judge is set to rule next month on whether the A321 cancellation is allowed to stand

ALSO READ - Qatar Airways tells UK judge to reinstate Airbus A321 order or award unquantified damages

In its legal documents made public on Monday, March 21 Airbus said that the cancellation of a separate A321 order for Qatar Airways won’t free up capacity for the oversubscribed model. The planemaker said it builds some customer attrition into its business model.  

ALSO READ - UK court orders Airbus to halt the cancellation of Qatar Airways’ A321neo

A judge is set to rule next month on whether the A321 cancellation is allowed to stand. Airbus has already provisionally added Qatar back into its plans, it said. It estimates it could deliver the first aircraft around the fourth quarter of 2023, compared with an original delivery date of February of that year.

(With Inputs from Bloomberg)

Around 76.96 lakh domestic passengers travelled by air in February, approximately 20% more than the 64.08 lakh who flew in January, Indian aviation regulator DGCA said on Monday, March 21.

The February figure is a sign that the domestic aviation market is recovering after the 43% dip that was observed in January due to the Omicron variant of coronavirus. In December 2021, 1.12 crore domestic passengers had travelled by air.

The passenger load factors -- which means occupancy rates -- increased for all Indian carriers in February as compared to January, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) stated in its monthly statement.

Domestic air travel sees a 20% improvement in February

The load factors of SpiceJet, IndiGo, Vistara, Go First, Air India and AirAsia India were 89.1%, 85.2%, 87.1%, 87%, 84.1% and 83.2%, respectively, in February 2022, it mentioned. However, in January 2022, the occupancy rates of these carriers had been 73.4%, 66.6%, 61.6%, 66.7%, 60.6% and 60.5%, respectively, it added.

In the last two years, the aviation sector has been significantly impacted due to the travel restrictions imposed in India and other countries because of the Covid pandemic.

IndiGo -- India's largest carrier -- carried 39.51 lakh passengers in February, a 51.3% share of the domestic market, the DGCA said. SpiceJet flew 8.2 lakh passengers and Air India flew 8.55 lakh passengers in February.

IndiGo had the best on-time performance of 95.4% at four metro airports - Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai

Vistara, Go First, AirAsia India and Alliance Air carried 7.49 lakh, 7.34 lakh, 4.46 lakh and 1.12 lakh passengers, respectively, in February, the data showed.

The DGCA data mentioned that in February, IndiGo had the best on-time performance of 95.4% at four metro airports - Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai.

Go First and Vistara were at the second and third positions at these four airports in February with 94.1% and 90.9% on-time performance respectively, the DGCA said.

In February, Vistara, SpiceJet, Air India, AirAsia India and Alliance Air had OTP of 90.9%, 90.9%, 89.8%, 88.5% and 88.5%, respectively.

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a French aerospace engine firm Safran Helicopter Engines to extend its cooperation and explore opportunities for new helicopter engines in civil and military markets.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, R Madhavan, CMD, Hindustan Aeronautics, shed light on the joint venture and resulting opportunities. Madhavan affirmed that MoU with Safran could yield revenue of over USD 1 billion in the next 5 years. He also explained that the company will be looking at newer products through the joint venture with Safran.

R Madhavan, CMD, Hindustan Aeronautics

“It will have more than a billion-dollar of revenue in about five years from now and yearly revenues are also good; we are assessing that in peak, it will produce about 150 engines in a year starting with 50 engines in the coming year, 23-24 onwards,” he said.

On the order book at hand, Madhavan said that most of it can be executed in FY23-24. Additionally, he mentioned that he expects to see a growth in the range of 6-7% in the current fiscal (FY22).

He said, “We feel that our position is quite strong and this year also, we will have a growth which is at least 6-7% over last year and we intend to continue with the same growth rate next year also.”

Safran operates in the aircraft propulsion and equipment, space and defence markets

Safran S.A. is a French multinational aircraft engine, rocket engine, aerospace component and defence corporation. It was formed by a merger between the aircraft and rocket engine manufacturer and aerospace component manufacturer group SNECMA and the security company SAGEM in 2005.

In 2018 Safran took control of Zodiac Aerospace, significantly expanding its aircraft equipment activities. Its headquarters are located in Paris. Employing over 95,000 people and generating 24.64 billion euros in sales in 2019, Safran operates in the aircraft propulsion and equipment, space and defence markets.

(With Inputs from CNBC TV18)

A China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800 domestic flight MU5735 with 132 people on board crashed in mountains in southern China on Monday, March 21 and media reported that rescue workers had found no sign of survivors.

The aircraft, with 123 passengers and nine crew on board, lost contact over the city of Wuzhou, China's Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) and the airline said.

The China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737 aircraft, which departed from Kunming, capital of Yunnan province and was bound for Guangzhou, bordering Hong Kong crashed into a mountainous area near the Molang village in Tengxian County at 2:38 PM, causing a massive mountain fire.

The Guangxi regional health commission has dispatched 12 medical experts to the site, and over 80 medical workers and 36 ambulances sent by health authorities in the city of Wuzhou have arrived at the scene.

The nosedive by the China Eastern Airlines Corp. jet from about 29,000 feet (8,840 meters) is baffling air-crash specialists. Boeing has offered to help China’s investigation. China Eastern grounded its fleet of 737-800s, and thousands of domestic flights were cancelled on Tuesday, March 22 across China. Chinese officials are due to hold a briefing on the crash this evening. 

Boeing on Tuesday, March 22 said the company was in contact with the US National Transportation Safety Board and its technical experts were prepared to assist with the investigation led by the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

"Our thoughts are with the passengers and crew of China Eastern Airlines Flight MU 5735. We are working with our airline customers and are ready to support them," the aircraft-maker said.

https://twitter.com/CGTNOfficial/status/1505837438303756289

"Can confirm the plane has crashed," China Eastern Airlines said in a statement in which it also gave details of a hotline for relatives of those on board.

Flight tracker FlightRadar24 showed no more data for flight MU5735 after 2:22 pm local time, when it had reached Wuzhou. It showed that the plane had sharply dropped from an altitude of 29,100 feet to 3,225 feet in the span of three minutes, before flight information stopped.

The media cited a rescue official as saying the plane had disintegrated and caused a fire destroying bamboo trees. The People's Daily quoted a provincial firefighting department official as saying there was no sign of life among the scattered debris.

The Boeing 737-800 is part of the 737 families, the world's most-flown commercial aircraft series. It was developed in the 1960s to serve short- or medium-length routes. The 737-800 is part of the 737 NG or Next-Generation family - with more than 7,000 delivered since 1993 - and it has a strong safety record after nearly three decades of flights.

The 162- to 189-seat 737-800 was launched on September 5, 1994. The NG is the predecessor to the 737 MAX. The jet involved in the China Eastern accident was six years old, according to Flightradar24.

The last fatal 737-800 crash occurred in August 2020 when an Air India Express plane overshot the table-top runway and crashed while landing at Calicut International Airport of Kerala in heavy rain, killing 21. A government report cited pilot error as the probable cause.

China has the world’s largest fleet of Boeing 737-800s, meaning any further groundings of the jet could have a significant impact on domestic travel, according to aviation consultancy IBA Group Ltd. 

China’s fleet of nearly 1,200 aircraft is also the world’s youngest, with an average age of about eight years, five below the global average, IBA said. The China Eastern 737-800 that crashed was delivered to the carrier in June 2015. 

The engines on the China Eastern jet were manufactured by CFM, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said in a tweet. CFM, a joint venture of General Electric Co. and Safran SA, will be the technical advisor for any issues related to the engines, the NTSB said.

Rescuers in southern China continued to search a remote mountainside for the black boxes of the China Eastern Airlines plane that plunged from the sky on Monday with 132 people on board, as authorities warned the severe damage to the aircraft would make it difficult to establish the cause of the crash.

The air cargo facility launched at Tirupati airport in 2021 amid many expectations has failed to get momentum and is set to be closed soon. The facility had become a reality in August 2021 and it was expected to be a big hit as many items can be sent to required destinations within a few hours.

With the gradual increase of domestic passenger footfall, there was a hope that it could tap the cargo potential as well from the entire Rayalaseema region and Nellore districts which led the Airport Authority of India (AAI) to moot the facility. Accordingly, the old terminal was earmarked for the purpose and necessary arrangements are made.

Tirupati Airport's air cargo services to be suspended soon

Though it was used initially as a combination of passenger and cargo together, if the demand surges, there is a chance of even operating dedicated cargo flights. But, it evoked poor response and as of now on average less than 700 kg per day is moving from the cargo terminal ever since cargo operations have started on August 12, 2021, which is considered inadequate to continue the facility.

According to reliable sources, due to low bookings, it was decided to suspend services from the exclusive cargo terminal. Meanwhile, AAI is making alternate arrangements and seeking permission for very limited cargo from the passenger terminal itself. However, sources said that there may be a relook into reopening the exclusive cargo terminal if the bookings improve.

AAI is making alternate arrangements and seeking permission for very limited cargo from the passenger terminal itself

However, there was a view that lack of publicity is said to be one of the reasons for the poor response. The concept was said to have not gone into various sections in the region and many were not aware of such a facility.

Tirupati Chamber of Commerce president A Manjunath told The Hans India that the traders have found it difficult to go all the way to Renigunta and hand over the consignments. Instead, there should be one or two pickup points in the city itself which can facilitate even people to book their parcels easily.

Further, the poor road connectivity between Airport and Sri City was another hurdle in this regard. When RTC cargo services are now being provided at the doorstep, people naturally prefer them. Air cargo services should also be accessed easily, he felt.