American Airlines postpone Seattle-Bengaluru flight service

American Airlines is dropping some international flights from its plans for next summer because Boeing has failed to deliver planes that the airline ordered, according to an internal memo Thursday.

Boeing has been unable to deliver its 787 jetliner, which it calls the Dreamliner, for about a year because of a series of manufacturing problems.

The twin-aisle jet is popular with airlines for long flights because of its improved fuel efficiency over older planes of similar size.

The carrier has claimed that it is 13 aircraft behind on expected deliveries, having ordered a number of Boeing 787s in 2018.

American had expected 13 more Dreamliners in its fleet by this winter. Without those planes, “we simply won't be able to fly as much internationally as we had planned next summer, or as we did in summer 2019," Chief Revenue Officer Vasu Raja said in the memo to American's employees.

According to the memo, American won't fly to Edinburgh, Scotland; Shannon, Ireland; or Hong Kong next summer and won't bring back some destinations it served in 2019, including Prague.

It will also cut the number of flights it hoped to offer to destinations in Asia, including Shanghai, Beijing and Sydney and will delay starting new service including flights between Seattle and Bengaluru, India.

American “will do our best to minimize the damage these aircraft delivery delays have caused to our long-haul portfolio" while giving customers certainty about flights as they book summer travel, Raja said in the memo, which was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Around 25 Airports Authority of India (AAI) airports have been earmarked by the Centre for asset monetisation over the next three years under the National Monetization Pipeline (NMP).

These airports include Bhubaneshwar, Varanasi, Amritsar, Trichy, Indore, Raipur, Calicut, Coimbatore, Nagpur, Patna, Madurai, Surat, Ranchi, Jodhpur, Chennai, Vijayawada, Vadodara, Bhopal, Tirupati, Hubli, Imphal, Agartala, Udaipur, Dehradun and Rajahmundry.

Minister of State for Civil Aviation General Dr VK Singh announced this in Lok Sabha on Thursday, December 9 in a written reply after Member of Parliament Mimi Chakraborty asked whether the government proposes to privatise another 30-35 airports of the country in the next five years.

Singh said that the criteria adopted for the monetisation of airport assets under the NMP are for airports having annual traffic above the threshold of 0.4 million passengers (in FY 2019 and 2020) and also airports with a sizeable ongoing or proposed capital expenditure plan as per the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP).

In August this year, the Centre said it was planning to raise approximately INR 20,782 crore till FY25 by monetising airports across the country.

Except for four airports out of 137 airports in the country, all continue to suffer losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the financial year 2020-21. These four are Kandala (0.11 crore), Kanpur Chakeri (6.07 crore), Bareilly (0.68 crores) and Porbandar (1.54 crores).

"Delhi and Mumbai airports suffered a huge loss of INR 317 crore and INR 331 crore respectively. Except for the few airports like Goa that has made a profit of Rs 146 crore in FY 2019-20 has suffered a huge loss of Rs 118 crore in FY 2020-21, most of the airports continued to suffer losses in the last three financial years," Singh added.

AAI owns 136 airports, out of which AAI has formed Joint Venture in seven. AAI has recently awarded six airports namely Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram, Mangaluru for Operations, Management and Development under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) for 50 years.

The Adani Group had forayed into the airport's sector in 2019. In February the company signed the concession agreement for three airports, followed by Mangaluru airport in October, and Lucknow and Ahmedabad airports in November.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation confirmed on Thursday, December 9 that the government is yet to estimate the value of the much-revered "The Maharaja Collection" of Air India. However, the ministry did confirm that Air India's "The Maharaja Collection" has approximately 4,840 paintings and 2,390 other objects.

Presently, the Art and Artifacts of Air India are kept in the Air India Building in Mumbai under 24x7 CCTV surveillance, which is supervised by Air India security, noted VK Singh, minister of state, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, December 9.

Responding to a question on whether any artwork has been stolen, lost or damaged, Singh wrote, "One painting "Flying Apsara" was found stolen/misplaced, which was subsequently recovered and an FIR in the case was registered with Delhi Police."

He also added that according to Air India records, 19 paintings were destroyed in various fire incidents, two were scrapped, one was broken and a few were not traceable.

On October 8, the government had announced that Talace Private Limited -- a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons -- had won the bid to acquire debt-laden Air India. Tata had outbid a consortium led by SpiceJet promoter Ajay Singh by offering INR 18,000 crore.

KH Ara

The government will hand over Air India to Tata Sons. Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia had stated on December 3 that the Air India transfer will be completed in the next 1 to 1.5 months.

However, the art collection is likely to stay with the government as it hands over the national carrier to Tata.

In October, it was reported that Air India's invaluable art collection was in the process of being transferred to the Ministry of Culture. News agency PTI had reported that the collection was to be displayed at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) after the airline's sale to the Tata Group.

"We have been trying to procure the Air India artefacts for some time. So, it's an ongoing process. Recently we had a meeting with officials of Air India," NGMA Director-General Adwaita Gadanayak had told the agency. "Now, the file (of the transfer) is with the Ministry of Culture and hopefully we will be able to get them and display them at NGMA," he added.

"The Maharaja Collection" of Air India includes works of legendary artists like M F Husain, Anjolie Ela Menon, Jatin Das, S H Raza, V S Gaitonde and K A Ara. Air India has stated that several of the paintings in the collection came under the airline's possession when the artists were not well-known among the masses. Some artists had also readily availed Air India's unique option of bartering their artwork for a flight ticket.

The art collection includes stone sculptures dating back to the ninth century, woodwork, decorative friezes and a collection of exquisite clocks. The clock collection includes a mantle clock in an ebonised break-arch wood case, which is said to have been made in London in 1845.

The man behind Air India's "The Maharaja Collection" is its former chairman JRD Tata. Due to his efforts, the artwork was displayed on the office walls of Air India in cities like Paris, London, Rome, Geneva and Cairo which provided a glimpse into the rich Indian culture to the visiting people.

In 2018, officials had told PTI that the preservation of the collection had been suffering due to the then uncertainty over the future of Air India.

(With Inputs from Business Today)

India's civil aviation industry is moving from nascency towards the growth phase and progressing "very rapidly" in the area of aircraft manufacturing, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia told Lok Sabha on Thursday, December 9.

Replying to a question from Trinamool Congress (TMC) member Saugata Roy, the minister also said that there is a plan to increase the number of airports from 138 to 220 in the next four to five years as building infrastructure in the aviation sector is crucial for the government.

Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Minister for Civil Aviation

"Civil aviation does not just consist of airline operations and airport operations, but also a whole ecosystem must develop. For that ecosystem to develop, the industry must go from nascency towards growth phase, which is where we are going," Scindia said during the Question Hour.

India has advanced towards manufacturing aircraft, he said, adding that "we are progressing very rapidly in the area of manufacturing of aircraft".

In his question, the TMC member had sought to know from the government if it has taken steps to increase aircraft manufacturing in India, noting that the country was still far behind in passenger aircraft manufacturing.

Tata Boeing Space Limited

"We have Boeing and Tata in a joint venture called Tata Boeing Space Limited, which is today manufacturing the Apache fuselage in India for not only operate within in India but internationally as well. They are being exported," the minister said.

While Airbus has "tied up" with the Tata Advance System to replace the AVRO aircraft of the Indian Air Force with Airbus C295, the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has taken "very important steps" in the area of aircraft manufacturing, which includes manufacturing the Hindustan-228, the Indian version of the Dornier-228, he said.

"Six civilian aircraft are under production with our funding... We are also producing 19-seater light transport aircraft within India with CSR to give a new impetus to regional transport. The ALH-Dhruv (advanced light helicopter) is also being produced by HAL," Scindia added.

IAF's Airbus C295

Replying to a supplementary question asked by the TMC member, the minister said the 'Udaan' has been "a very successful" scheme in terms of viability gap funding to connect previously unconnected or under-connected locations.

"Under this scheme, we have not only provided connectivity between smaller cities and large metros but also built 63 airports, heliports and water aerodromes. We have almost doubled the number of airports in (last) seven years, growing from 74 airports, before 2014, to 138 airports today," he said.

"We plan to grow to 220 (airports) in next four to five years," he added. The minister said that building infrastructure in the aviation sector is "an imperative". "We will surely deliver on that," he added.

Specifying the government’s measures to strengthen the ecosystem for aircraft leasing and financing in India, Scindia said in a written reply that under International Financial Services Centres Authority Act 2019, the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) was established on April 27, 2020.

"New tax regime was introduced from April 2020 to make Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) inapplicable to domestic companies. An exemption has been provided from corporate tax for a block period of 10 years within the first 15 years for leasing units,” he added.

The government is pushing airlines to change flight timings to prevent overcrowding at airports. It has also asked them to stop operating smaller ATR and Bombardier Q400s aircraft to and from Delhi for two months starting December 15, said people with knowledge of the matter.

Some flight timings have been changed but airlines are said to be resisting too many alterations to the schedule. They also say any ban on smaller planes will lead to a closure of stations such as Kullu and Dharamshala.

Delhi Airport when new guidelines were imposed.

The aviation ministry wants carriers to ensure that too many flights don't arrive or depart around the same time.

"As part of the exercise, flight timings will be changed and this will ensure too many passengers do not clog airports upon arrival during the same time," said a senior government official, who didn't want to be identified. "Not just that, we have decided to ensure flight schedule approvals in the future will be done to ensure many flights do not arrive and depart at the same time."

"For smaller players like us, if they ask to move a morning flight to evening, we can't do it. Passenger Inconvenience that shift means we may have to cancel the flight because there may not be aircraft available. Vistara has 76 departures from Delhi. Of these, 15-20 take off between 6 am and 8 am. A few of them have been shifted."Vinod Kannan, CEO, Vistara

The government expects these measures to ease crowding. Aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia is said to be monitoring the situation after complaints of airport overcrowding on social media.

Airlines say it will be impossible to tweak flight timings in the middle of the winter schedule. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) divides the year into summer and winter flight schedules.

SpiceJet's Bombardier Q400

"We are already working under tremendous duress due to constantly changing rules around the Omicron variant," said another top airline executive, who didn't want to be identified. "Changing flight timings now would be impossible. Also, it would be very bad for business."

IndiGo's ATR-72

Such a measure will hit the operations of airlines such as Alliance Air, which only has ATRs; SpiceJet and IndiGo. SpiceJet operates Bombardier Q400s and Boeing 737s and IndiGo operate ATRs and Airbus 320 family aircraft. Another executive added that some of these destinations may not have enough passengers to fill 180-seater planes. ATRs and Bombardier's seat around 70 passengers.

(With Inputs from The Economic Times)

The demand for eVTOL aircraft has seen a surge like never before, thanks to the ever-evolving technology and rapid advancements in electrical propulsion.

Not surprisingly, the unprecedented surge has pushed key players like Airbus, Boeing, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai and NASA, with each bringing their best innovation (s) to the fore.

Not wanting to leave the game just to the big boys, numerous small-time aviation start-ups have now started grooving to the beat and here's a showdown of 7 unique eVTOLs presented by such players:

1. The Big Bessie

Kelekona is a NY based startup proposing a mass transport-sized eVTOL airbus service. The model, dubbed "The Big Bessie", is different from other models in that when most concepts revolve around two- to seven-seat cabins, Bessie would be capable of ferrying 40 people over long distances.

Freethink

Akin to a " Thunderbird" style lifting body, the gigantic 3.6-megawatt-hour battery pack has the potential to deliver enormous range figures up to 375 miles (600 km) at speeds around 200 mph (320 km/h).

2. The Tiny Tim

Ever fancied sifting through the skies like a Superman? "The Tiny Tim" by Zeva just might be the right option for you. The team at Zeva has modelled a concept wherein the model would stand upright on the ground, take-off vertically, and once airborne, tilt forward head-first and fly Superman-style!

Inceptive Mind

What's more?! It would just take about as much garage space for a motorcycle and can clock speeds up to 160 mph (257 km/h).

3. The Cyclogross

Cyclotech is proposing a four-seat air taxi, and Russia's Foundation for Advanced Research is looking at a six-seat hybrid Cyclocar for military purposes, capable of 155 mph (250 km/h) and ranging up to 310 miles (500 km). Both have flown decent-sized prototypes.

Hot cars

Featuring Voith-Schneider arrangements, fast-spinning barrels are formed by a series of variable-pitch wing blades. Additionally, the thrust can be varied through 360 degrees without the need for the motors to power up.

4. The Supercar "Leo"

eVTOL News

Leo, designed by Urban eVTOL, is a three-seat double-box-wing design, that is touted to clock speeds up to 250-mph (400 km/h)  with a maximum range of 300-mile (483-km) all whilst running only on 66 kWh of battery, and fitting in a card slot.

5. The Lego set

Inceptive Mind

The proposed autonomous design by Talyn has a detachable lift system, which will fly back to base and sit on the charger, ready to rendezvous with another cruise stage, hook onto it in mid-air and bring it down gently when required. This is done to mitigate the drag effects of the aircraft once it is in cruise mode while at the same time saving the battery power during its VTOL stage of the flight.

6. The PteroDynamics' Transwing

Forbes

With its clever, dihedral-folding Transwing system, the company claims, transwing would be the most efficient eVTOL design of them all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uNboCgDOKQ&t=10s

Demonstration of a Transwing prototype | Pterodynamics Inc | Youtube

Transwing aircraft have much greater range, endurance, and cargo carrying efficiency as compared to all other VTOL designs. given any aircraft footprint size and payload requirements, Transwing aircraft will fly several times as far as any VTOL competitorPteroDynamics claims

7. The eHang EH216

TransportUP

The Chinese eHang EH216 may not be technically different from other rotors of its class per se although it could be well on its way to being fully type-certified and ready for its first commercial air taxi services within a few months.Featuring a simple 16-prop coaxial multicopter, and with a maximum range of 35 km, the top speed it can attain is 130 km. If reports are anything to go by, the Chinese have started to to ramp up mass manufacture at a 6-acre (2.4-ha) factory in Yunfu.

SOURCE: New Atlas

COVER: Aviation International News