Boeing to Offer Referral Bonus to Hire New Personnel

Boeing, one of the world's top aerospace corporations, recently announced its intentions to pay up to $10,000 in referral bonuses when hiring new employees. This move comes as the firm seeks to increase production and staff in order to fulfil rising demand for its products and services throughout 2023 and the next three years.

What Exactly Is the Boeing Recommendation Bonus Program?

The Boeing recommendation bonus program is a referral program that compensates existing workers for referring excellent candidates for available positions inside the firm. Employees who suggest a candidate who is finally employed by Boeing can get a bonus of up to $10,000 under this scheme. The amount of the bonus is determined by the role for which the candidate is hired as well as the location of the work.

Significant Incentives

According to Leeham News, Boeing is providing referral bonuses of up to $10,000 to existing employees at its Puget Sound, Washington, operations. Workers who recommend experienced aerospace experts to available positions in a variety of disciplines, including structural mechanics and general machinists, may be eligible for the incentive. The business builds the 737 MAX, 777, and 777X, as well as the 767F and the KC-46A, a military variant of the 767, in Puget Sound. Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) is only paying referral bonuses for select roles, including aircraft sealer, assembler installer, aircraft structures mechanic, and aircraft test technician. There are also other openings in South Carolina and Utah, such as Product Acceptance Specialist, as well as one in Montana for a Fabrication Specialist. Boeing, on the other hand, is not offering referral incentives to employees in Charleston, SC, where the 787 Dreamliner assembly plant is situated. Instead, the business is paying $5,000 signing incentives to stabilize 787 manufacturing before pushing the increase in output. Interior installers and experienced painters are eligible for signing incentives. According to Leeham News, Boeing wants to attain a monthly manufacturing pace of five Dreamliners by the end of this year, increasing to ten by 2025 or 2026.

Why is Boeing Offering Recommendation Bonuses?

Boeing's move to give recommendation bonuses is part of the company's larger attempts to attract and retain top talent in a competitive market. With the aviation sector projected to recover rapidly in the next few years, the firm plans to boost production and expand its personnel to fulfil demand for its goods and services. Boeing hopes to incentivize its workers to find and suggest eligible people who may contribute to the company's development and success by paying referral incentives. Employee recommendations tend to be of higher quality and have a greater retention rate than applicants obtained through other means, making this technique a cost-effective option to hire fresh talent.

How does the recommendation bonus program work?

All qualified Boeing workers are eligible for the recommendation incentive programme, and they can refer applicants using an online referral portal. After being suggested, a candidate will be evaluated for any vacant opportunities that match their credentials and experience. The employee who suggested the candidate will be eligible for a bonus if the referred candidate gets employed by Boeing and stays in their role for at least 90 days. The bonus amount will vary based on the role and region, but it might range from a few hundred dollars to $10,000.

What are the advantages of the recommendation bonus program?

The recommendation bonus program may be a cost-effective solution for Boeing to attract and retain outstanding staff. The organisation may access a larger pool of competent applicants and perhaps save on recruiting costs by using the networks and skills of its existing workers. For employees, the program may be a means to earn extra money while also contributing to the company's success. Employees may help influence the culture and talent of their workplace by suggesting qualified individuals, as well as possibly boost their own career chances inside the organisation, by referring qualified people.

Staffing Shortages throughout the Industry

For several months, the sector has been suffering from a labor shortage. Boeing said in January that it intended to boost its workforce by 10,000 this year. Boeing CEO David Calhoun earlier stated that the company's focus should be on training. "Hiring is no longer a limitation," Calhoun remarked. "They may recruit the individuals they require. It all comes down to training and eventually preparing them to undertake the complicated job that we require." According to AeroTime, Boeing wants to increase the 737 MAX manufacturing pace from 31 to 38 aircraft by mid-year. The aircraft manufacturer also stated that it intends to expand new aircraft deliveries by almost 80 planes beginning in 2022. After delivering over 400 737 MAX aeroplanes last year, the business aims to deliver 400-450 jets in 2023.  Boeing has allegedly revealed that by the end of this year, it aims to manufacture five 787s every month, gradually growing to ten per month in 2025 or 2026. Furthermore, the firm intends to expand 777 and 777X manufacturing. The present monthly pace is three aircraft; however, it is expected to expand to four aircraft in 2025 and 2026.

Conclusion

To summarize, Boeing's recommendation bonus programme is a novel method to attracting and keeping top people in a competitive market. By motivating its workers to assist find and suggest excellent individuals, the firm may get access to a larger pool of talent while possibly saving money on recruiting expenditures. For employees, the programme may be a means to earn extra money while also contributing to the company's success. When the aviation sector recovers, programs like this are expected to become more widespread as businesses attempt to develop and survive in a post-pandemic environment.

With Inputs from AeroTime

SpaceX, Elon Musk's private American space exploration corporation, has been working on the creation of its next-generation spacecraft, the Starship, for several years. The Starship is intended to be the most powerful rocket ever constructed, capable of transporting personnel and goods to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. But, the Starship's first flight has been postponed again and again, raising fears about the program's viability.

The History of SpaceX's Starship

The Starship from SpaceX is a fully reusable spacecraft that combines a rocket and a spaceship. The Super Heavy rocket is the most powerful rocket ever built, with 33 Raptor engines, 13 in the middle and the rest 20 surrounding the booster's aft end, providing 200 tonnes of thrust apiece. The Starship can transport up to 100 passengers and 100 metric tonnes of goods into space. The Starship can land on any surface in the solar system, including the Moon and Mars. The Starship's first flight was initially slated for 2020, however it has been postponed multiple times owing to technological challenges and testing issues. The most recent postponement was revealed in April 2022, when SpaceX confirmed that the Starship's first orbital flight will be delayed until the end of 2022. But, as of April 2023, no maiden flight had occurred.

The Launch

SpaceX has set Thursday as the day for the next attempt to launch Starship, the most powerful rocket yet constructed. A mechanical glitch stopped Starship on its launchpad in South Texas on Monday morning, postponing the vehicle's historic inaugural launch attempt. SpaceX will have a launch window on Thursday that begins at 8:28 a.m. CT (9:28 a.m. ET) and ends at 9:30 a.m. CT (10:30 a.m. ET). The launch attempt will be livestreamed on the company's website beginning around 45 minutes before liftoff. On Monday, the gigantic Super Heavy rocket booster, which has 33 engines, was set to roar to life and launch the Starship spaceship off its ground pad, which is located within SpaceX facilities on the coast of South Texas, and into the Gulf of Mexico. But the launch was cancelled owing to a pressurization issue, according to the SpaceX feed. "A pressurant valve appears to be frozen, so no launch today unless it starts operating soon," SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted. Time required to address the valve issue and replace supplies of liquid oxygen and methane propellants at the company's flight test facility in Boca Chica, Texas — "Starbase"

Even after deciding to cancel the launch attempt, the crew proceeded to carry out certain launch procedures and left the countdown clock running in a "wet dress rehearsal." They eventually suspended the countdown clock with 40 seconds remaining. According to SpaceX chief integration engineer John Insprucker, if the corporation proceeds with the launch, mission controllers would give the rocket a final "okay" for launch at T-30 seconds. It is usual for first-time launches to be delayed as engineers work out flaws that may have gone undetected during previous testing. For example, the NASA Space Launch System rocket required four tries to complete a wet dress rehearsal and two launch attempts before ultimately taking off in November 2022. "Whatever data we can collect today is really valuable, and that's precisely what we're doing," SpaceX commentator Kate Tice said. "We are continuing to collect this data in order to better advise the crew for the future attempt." Regrettably, due to the necessity to recycle the propellant, we will have to wait at least 48 hours before attempting this flying test again." The 394-foot-tall, 30-foot-wide Starship, loaded with just over 10 million pounds of liquid oxygen and methane propellants, is the largest, most powerful rocket ever built, surpassing NASA's renowned Saturn 5 and the Soviet Union's ill-fated N1 moon rocket.

The Effect of the Delay

The delay in the Starship's inaugural flight has significant consequences for SpaceX and its future ambitions. For starters, that means SpaceX will be unable to reach its initial goal of sending humans to the Moon by 2024 as part of NASA's Artemis program. NASA chose SpaceX to deliver a lunar lander for the mission, however due to the Starship's delay, it will not be completed in time. Second, the delay may have financial consequences for SpaceX. The Starship programme is expected to cost billions of dollars, and delays might raise the overall cost. Finally, the delay may have an impact on public view of SpaceX and its capacity to deliver on its promises. SpaceX has earned a reputation for being inventive and ambitious, but frequent delays might jeopardise the company's trust.

The Mission

At liftoff, the 230-foot-tall Starship "Super Heavy" first stage, powered by 33 methane-burning Raptor engines, will create 16 million pounds of thrust, which is double the power of NASA's Space Launch System moon rocket. The 160-foot-tall bullet-shaped Starship second stage is outfitted with six Raptors of its own, three Raptor engines and three Raptor Vacuum (RVac) engines, as well as steerable fins at the nose and tail to guide the spacecraft during atmospheric re-entry from space. Together, the two stages can carry 100 tonnes into low-Earth orbit. Both stages are totally reusable, falling to rocket-powered landings for refurbishment and restart. But, during the initial test flight, SpaceX will not attempt to recover either stage. When the launch does take place, the Super Heavy rocket is planned to burn up its fuel around two and a half minutes after liftoff and separate from the Starship spaceship, before being dumped in the ocean. The Starship will push itself to nearly orbital speeds by using its own engines, which will blaze for more than six minutes. Instead, the Super Heavy first stage is projected to fly itself 20 miles or so from Boca Chica to a "hard" landing in the Gulf of Mexico, where it will simply sink. After a virtually round-the-world ballistic flight, the Starship will crash into the Pacific Ocean roughly 150 miles north of Hawaii around an hour and a half after launch. After years of explosive tests, regulatory difficulties, and public hype from SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, the test flight will finally take place.

Musk attempted to dampen expectations in the run-up to Monday's launch, stating, "Success is not what should be expected." That would be insane." He noted that if the Super Heavy rocket exploded on the launch pad, it might melt the steel infrastructure surrounding it, forcing SpaceX to reconstruct the launch site for many months. "If we get far enough away from the launch pad before something goes wrong, I guess I'd consider that a success," Musk said on Sunday at a Twitter "Spaces" event. "Just don't blow the pad up." He added a few minutes later "Tomorrow is unlikely to be successful, if success is defined as reaching orbit. It's just a fundamentally difficult thing to do." "The odds of us initiating an abort and needing to postpone the launch are substantial," Musk stated late Sunday. "That's why I just want to set acceptable expectations." This is not like a train leaving the station at precisely 9:03 a.m. or something like that. It is the first launch of a massive, sophisticated rocket. We'll be extremely cautious, and if we notice anything that causes us worry, we'll postpone the launch."

SpaceX envisions someday launching a Starship into orbit and then refuelling it with another Starship to continue on its voyage to Mars or beyond. Elon Musk stated that the objective is to make Starship reusable and reduce the cost each trip to a few million dollars. "We should attain full and quick reusability in the long run - long run meaning, I don't know, two or three years," he remarked. Elon Musk stated that the ultimate goal is to create outposts on the Moon and Mars, putting mankind on the "road to becoming a multi-planet society." "We are at a point in history where it is feasible to become a multi-planet species," he stated. "That is our intention. I believe we have a chance."

Landing on the Moon

SpaceX, located in California, is currently focused on the Moon with Starship, having received a $3 billion (€2.7 billion) NASA contract to put people on the lunar surface as early as 2025 utilising the upper-stage spaceship. It will be the first-time astronauts have landed on the Moon in in over 50 years. The moonwalkers will depart Earth on NASA's Orion capsule and Space Launch System rocket, then transfer to the Starship in lunar orbit for the fall to the surface, and finally return to Orion. Starship will need to refuel in low-Earth orbit before it can travel to the Moon and beyond. SpaceX envisions an orbiting depot with tankers that are windowless Starships Yet, Starship is not only for NASA. The first private crew will fly Starship in orbit over Earth. Two private lunar excursions would follow, with no landings and only fly rounds.

Conclusion

The delay in the Starship's inaugural flight is a setback for SpaceX and its goals for the future of space travel. While the reasons for the delay are acceptable, it is unclear when the Starship will eventually take to the skies. SpaceX has declared that it will continue to support the Starship programme and its objective of transforming mankind into a multi-planetary species. The delay, however, serves as a reminder that space exploration is a complicated and difficult enterprise that needs patience, tenacity, and a determination to overcome hurdles.

With Inputs from edition.cnn.com, cbsnews.com

Dubai has been an increasingly popular destination for North American vacationers in recent years. As a result, more airlines are now operating direct flights to Dubai from various US and Canadian airports. As of April 2023, 15 airports in the United States and Canada have direct flights to Dubai, making it simpler than ever to visit this gorgeous Middle Eastern city.

Increase in Direct Flights to Dubai

Airlines have increased their direct flight offers to Dubai in recent years, allowing visitors to avoid long layovers and connecting flights. The expanding appeal of Dubai as a tourist destination, as well as the growing economic relations between North America and the United Arab Emirates, have fueled this expansion.

The 15 airports that now provide direct flights to Dubai are located throughout the United States and Canada, making it easier for visitors to get a trip from their nearest airport. 

• John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)
• Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR)
• Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
• San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
• Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)
• Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH)
• Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD)
• Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD)
• Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
• Vancouver International Airport (YVR)
• Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ)
• Airport International Pierre Elliott Trudeau de Montréal (YUL)
• Calgary International Airport (YYC)
• Edmonton International Airport (YEG)
• Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport (YOW)

Foreseeable Schedule

Air Canada has introduced a daily flight from Vancouver to Dubai, with the inaugural trip departing on October 28th. It was Vancouver's first Middle East service in 20 years, thanks to the relaxation of the Canada-UAE bilateral agreement and Air Canada's cooperation with Emirates. Improved traffic rights have also resulted in Emirates increasing its Toronto service to daily, while Etihad has boosted its Abu Dhabi-Toronto service to daily. As of April 17th, Dubai flights were available at 15 airports in the United States and Canada. But Montreal is almost certainly on the way, thanks to the looser bilateral. It will most likely begin this winter, although no date has been set.

The following points highlight all available flights for the week beginning November 1st. These include United Airlines from Newark, another Emirates partner. On March 25th, the first flight left the United States. It operates nonstop every day and complements Emirates' daily Dubai-Athens-Newark route.

Advantages of Direct Flights to Dubai

There are 17 or 18 daily US/Canada flights from Dubai, depending on the day. They are meticulously synchronized in order to optimize two-way connections across Dubai. After all, transit passengers are the primary drivers of aircraft. In 2022, more than two million travellers from the United States and Canada had transited via Dubai. India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Egypt, the Maldives, Nepal, Kuwait, and Kenya were the top 15 markets. According to Cirium's statistical information, based on the first week of November, Dubai has two main departure banks to the US or Canada: very early morning (01:00-03:59) and later in the morning (mainly 08:00-09:59). The highest period is 02:00-02:59, when 32 flights depart throughout the examined week. These are Air Canada to Vancouver (the new route; departure time is 02:00), United to Newark (02:15), and Emirates to Washington Dulles (02:25), JFK (non-stop; departure time is 02:35), and Dallas Fort Worth (departure time is 02:50).

The increased number of direct flights to Dubai provides various advantages to tourists, including:

Time Saving: By skipping layovers and connecting flights, direct flights allow travellers to save hours on their journey. This is especially advantageous for business travellers who need to get to their location swiftly and effectively.

Convenience: As more airports provide direct flights, travellers have more options for selecting a departure location that is convenient for them. This might save you time and money on airport transportation.

Comfort: Direct flights are also more pleasant since travellers can settle into their seats and rest without being interrupted by a stopover.

Conclusion

The development of direct flights to Dubai from 15 airports in the United States and Canada has made it simpler than ever for tourists to visit this attractive Middle Eastern destination. Direct flights have various advantages for both leisure and business passengers, including time savings, convenience, and comfort. With the continuous expansion of tourism and commercial relations between North America and the United Arab Emirates, additional airports are anticipated to begin offering direct flights to Dubai in the future.

Air France and Airbus have been cleared of all charges related to a fatal Air France incident in 2009. The prosecution identified multiple acts of imprudence on the part of the industrial behemoth and the French flag carrier, but no evidence of criminal negligence on their part.

The Incident

On June 1, 2009, Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330, registration F-GZCP, crashed after being trapped in a nocturnal thunderstorm several hours after departing Rio de Janeiro for Paris. The plane's airspeed sensors were thrown off by ice crystals, and the autopilot was disabled. Authorities eventually discovered that the befuddled pilots had been subjected to a storm of alerts and contradicting signals from cockpit equipment. They tried to recover control of the jet as it stopped, went into free fall, and plunged into the ocean between Brazil and West Africa in less than five minutes. There were no survivors among the 216 passengers and 12 crew members. Dancers, physicians, engineers, and businesspeople from all across Europe, as well as from Africa, Asia, Canada, South America, and the United States, were among those killed. Some were on business, while others were on vacation. There were eight children. After laying at a depth of almost 10,000 feet, the black boxes from the disaster were only discovered two years later on the ocean floor.

The Case

The case revolved around an Airbus A330-200 registered F-GZCP that went down over the ocean during a journey from Rio de Janeiro Galea?o to Paris Charles de Gaulle in 2009. In the airline's worst accident, all three-flight crew, nine cabin personnel, and 216 passengers perished. At the time of the tragedy, the aircraft was around four years old and had roughly 18,900 flight hours. Prosecutors at the trial eventually determined that the pilots had failed to overcome their tension and astonishment when inaccurate pitot sensor readings triggered a flurry of alerts. The court ruled that because the sensors could not be proven to be defective, the firms were not liable. Throughout the hearings, a slew of experts — pilots, police officers, air traffic controllers, and other aeronautical professionals — testified, diving deeply into the complexities of flight safety, airplane piloting, and aviation regulations.

The Verdict

The decision came after a civil trial that lasted from October through December of last year. At the conclusion of the hearings, the public prosecutors' office stated that it was difficult to show that either corporation was at fault and that the defendants should be exonerated. The public prosecutor's choice not to pursue a conviction was rare, but it was non-binding for the panel of judges hearing the trial. According to the court, Airbus committed "four acts of imprudence or negligence," including failing to replace certain kinds of pitot tubes on the A330 and A340 fleet that froze more frequently. The company was also accused of "withholding information" from flight crews. The decision also said that Air France committed "twoacts of imprudence" in the manner in which the information note on the defective pitot sensors was communicated. But the court was unable to establish a strong enough causal relationship between these deficiencies and the accident to establish that an offence had occurred. The judge concurred. The presiding judge, Sylvie Daunis, gave out a summary of the verdict in front of a courtroom filled with media and victims' relatives, acknowledging that the firms had displayed "imprudence" and "negligence" in their management of the defective sensors at the core of the case. But there was no proof that the crash could have been averted if those flaws had not happened, which is necessary for a manslaughter conviction, according to the court.

Victims' Families' Perspective

The verdict was a terrible disappointment for the victims' relatives, who had fought for more than a decade to bring Airbus, the aircraft manufacturer, and Air France, the country's largest airline, to trial. "We are horrified," Danièle Lamy, President of Entraide et Solidarité AF447, an organization of victims' relatives, said after the judgement, adding that she and other families were "desperate, shocked, and enraged." "Impunity reigns among the powerful," Ms. Lamy, whose son was killed in the disaster, said. There were no individual executives or supervisors on trial, and Airbus and Air France both faced a punishment of 225,000 euros, or approximately $246,000 – a pittance in comparison to their bottom lines. Several victims' families have already received financial recompense. Yet, a guilty conviction might have gravely harmed the two aviation titans' reputations following a tumultuous trial in which the families frequently showed their displeasure. As the hearings began in October, the senior executives of Airbus and Air France were aggressively heckled by some of the plaintiffs with screams of "Shame on you!" Exasperated by the prosecution' choice not to demand a conviction, some families stormed out of court in December.

One of Entraide et Solidarité AF447's lawyers, Alain Jakubowicz, admitted that the "razor-thin" legal gap between the corporations' civil and criminal duties was "difficult to fathom." Yet he stated that the shortcomings of Air France and Airbus had been exposed, even if they had not been convicted. In September, a hearing on civil damages will be held. "No, this was not an accident due to fate," Mr. Jakubowicz stated. "Sure, there are obligations." Yet, for the relatives of the victims who had hoped for a guilty finding, the result was as perplexing as it was frustrating. "I'm having a hard time comprehending," Ophélie Toulliou, whose brother perished in the tragedy, said after the judgement, through tears. "That doesn't make any sense."

Long Overdue

The final accident report issued by France's Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA) in July 2021 determined that the accident was caused mostly by pilot negligence as a result of pitot tube mechanical faults. The tubes that measure airspeed outside the plane's body froze over during the trip, resulting in inaccurate speed signals that disoriented the flight crew. The crew then failed to properly respond to the warning alarms. Following the incident, the Public Prosecutor's Office requested a manslaughter prosecution against Air France, claiming the company failed to provide appropriate information to its pilots about the protocols to be followed. The argument emphasized that the pitot tubes had malfunctioned owing to ice on previous flights before the tragedy, and it accused Airbus of neglecting to notify airlines of the problem in a timely manner. Following the tragedy, the sensors on all Airbus planes were replaced. The prosecution was dropped in 2019 owing to a lack of evidence, but the 'Association entraide et solidarité vol AF447', a group representing the victims' families, challenged the decision. The Paris Court of Appeal rejected the 2019 ruling in May 2021 and ordered Air France and Airbus to stand trial for involuntary manslaughter, resulting in last year's trial. According to AFP France-Presse, Air France said in a statement, "The firm will always remember the victims of this horrible tragedy and extends its profound sympathies to all their relatives," while Airbus offered "compassion" for the victims' families. "Airbus underlines the business's and all its workers' entire commitment to maintaining a safety-first culture across the company and the aviation sector," the company said in a statement.

Conclusion

The acquittal of Air France and Airbus ends a lengthy and arduous court struggle for both corporations. While the verdict will bring solace to the defendants, it will do nothing to lessen the sorrow of the victims' families, who are still grieving the deaths of their loved ones. The case emphasizes the necessity of stringent safety regulations in the aviation sector, as well as the need for firms to accept responsibility for the safety of their passengers and crew.

With Inputs from Nytimes

Air India is looking to scale up its cargo business and is exploring the possibility of inducting freighters, in a bid to gain market share, according to a report published by Business Standard. The Tata Sons-owned airline, which boasts a 118-plane strong fleet, recently ordered 470 aircraft. Unlike IndiGo and SpiceJet, it doesn't possess any freighters — planes that purely fly cargo. It transports freight in the belly space of its Boeing and Airbus passenger aircraft.

“We are exploring the possibility of inducting freighter capacity into the network, both directly and in collaboration with partners,” Air India said in an emailed response to Business Standard, adding that cargo revenue is “expected to be a significant part of the revenue mix” of the airline. It did not share any revenue figures.

Following the announcement of a record-breaking purchase of 470 aircraft earlier this year, the airline's fleet will significantly grow over the following several years. The deal, which includes Airbus and Boeing planes, aspires to restore the carrier to the top-tier global stature it had in earlier decades. Air India could buy up to 80 freighters over the next 20 years to capitalise on the fast increase in e-commerce demand.

Six months have passed since Air India announced its five-year transformation plan, with progress running smoothly for the Tata-owned carrier. Along with its huge order with Airbus and Boeing, the airline has committed USD 400 million to fleet refurbishments and USD 200 million to IT innovations, which includes the development of artificial intelligence (AI) systems.

Air Freight in India

Air freight capacity out of India is growing, both in terms of belly capacity and freighters – with the latter mostly in the form of conversions. Tata’s fleet push has now set the stage for heightened competition and newer growth strategies among carriers.

Industry sources believe network expansions from Air India’s fleet rebuild will also present significant growth potential for the nation’s air freight industry, already boosted by government policy reforms and growing investment in new airport projects. Air India has a dedicated freight wing, known as Air India Cargo, serving some international locations and 56 domestic destinations, according to available data.

Cargo operations have become a significant revenue contributor for cash-strapped Indian airlines in the past two years, amid heavy passenger traffic declines at the height of Covid-induced lockdowns and disruptions.

Air India Enters Second Phase of Vihaan.AI

'Taxi', the first phase of the transformation plan Vihaan.AI, which focussed on "addressing legacy issues of the airline at scale and laying the foundation for future growth," has concluded, the airline said and added that now the second phase 'Take Off', -- that will focus on developing the platforms, processes, and systems needed to build toward excellence -- has commenced. In this phase, Air India is expected to complete the consolidation of its airline business, develop a world-class institute for training and build on the momentum seen in the first phase. Air India CEO and MD Campbell Wilson said the first six months of the transformation journey had made great strides in tackling many issues that had built up over the years, and the airline has come a long way in establishing foundations for growth. 

The second phase will also witness the consolidation of AirAsia India and Air India Express; the Low-Cost Carrier (LCC) entity has already merged their core reservations platforms, websites, and customer-facing systems. "Vistara will also be merged with Air India following the grant of regulatory approval. The release said that developing a world-class training academy will also take shape as the future direction and configuration of the airline's line and base maintenance," the release said. Apart from launching premium economy seats for the first time on select long-haul flights, Air India has revamped its menus on international and domestic routes. The airline also rolled out over 29 new policies across employees to improve welfare, designed new remuneration programs for legacy staff, and "onboarded more than 3,800+ employees across crew and other functions to support capability and growth," the release said.

(With Inputs from Business Standard)