Delhi HC dismisses petition challenging Air India employees' allowance reductions

Radhika Bansal

10 Feb 2022

The Delhi High Court has dismissed petitions by the Executive Pilots Association and All India Aircraft Engineers Association challenging the reduction in allowances of Air India employees.

Justice V Kameswar Rao said that no case for discrimination was made out in the case and "rather there is a justifiable ground in reducing the allowances in the manner they have done for the pilots and engineers".

The judge stated that it was for the central government and Air India to determine what ought to be the appropriate reduction in allowances after taking into account all the relevant considerations and as long as the reduction is not palpably arbitrary, the scope of judicial review is very limited.

In its order passed on February 7, the court took into account the respondent's stand that the aviation industry was the worst-hit industry during the COVID-19 pandemic and that Air India accumulated losses of about INR 50,000 crores while suffering a cash deficit of INR 250 crores a month.

The court said senior advocates appearing in the matter have not disputed the power of the respondents to rationalise the allowances. "If that be so, there can also be no dispute that situation as was existing, required the respondents to take this drastic decision. The situation justified the rationalisation measures," the court stated in its order.

"It is for the respondents themselves to decide by taking into account relevant considerations to determine what ought to be the appropriate reduction in allowances. As long as the reduction is not palpably arbitrary, the scope of judicial review is very limited," it added.

The court observed that reduction in allowance had no impact on the concerned employees' basic pay, HRA, and DA and other categories of employees who faced similar reductions did not approach the court.

The petitioners challenged several orders issued by the aviation ministry in 2020 directing salary cuts of its employees. The Executive Pilots Association had contended that instead of rewarding its member pilots for their courage and role in Vande Bharat Missions, for which they were lauded by the aviation minister, their allowances and flying hours were being reduced.

Vande Bharat Missions were launched to repatriate Indians stranded abroad due to COVID-19 restrictions. The allowances which were reduced are - flying allowances, executive flying allowances, special pay, wide-body allowance, domestic layover allowance, and high-altitude allowance, among others, all of which exclusively affect pilots, the petition had said.

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AAI and Air India suffered loss of INR 7,083 crore in FY 2020-21

Radhika Bansal

10 Feb 2022

The Airport Authority of India and national carrier Air India suffered losses worth INR 7,083.91 crore during FY2020-21 during the Covid-19 pandemic. The information was shared by the Minister of State (MoS) for Civil Aviation Ministry General (Dr.) VK Singh (Retired) in the Rajya Sabha.

Adding further, General Singh informed the house that an assessment for losses owing to the suspension of international flights has not been undertaken yet.

Meanwhile, borrowers from the aviation sector have availed of guarantee support under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS), according to the National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Limited (NCGTC).

It may be noted that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the extension of ECLGS up to March 2023 in her Budget 2022-23 speech. She also said that the guarantee cover under ECLGS will be increased by INR 50,000 crore to a total cover of INR 5 lakh crore.

Talking of the operations of international flights, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has extended the suspension of scheduled international commercial passenger flights to and from India till February 28. However, these restrictions will not apply to international cargo flights and flights operating under the air bubble arrangement.

Meanwhile, the cash-strapped Air India returned to its founder Tata Group on January 27, almost 69 years after being nationalised. The group won the bid to acquire the airline in October 2021. Tata Sons brokered a deal with the Centre for INR 18,000 crore.

For the Air India sale, Tata Sons were pitted against Spicejet promoter Ajay Singh-led consortium, which placed a bid of INR 15,100 crore. However, after emerging as the winner, Tata Group's chairman N Chandrasekaran called it a "historic moment" adding that they will strive to develop a world-class airline that makes every Indian proud.

After the deal was completed, Chandrasekaran expressed his happiness saying, "We are excited to have Air India back in the Tata Group and are committed to making this a world-class airline. I warmly welcome all the employees of Air India, to our Group, and look forward to working together.”

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IndiGo's domestic and regional international footprints should continue to expand - Bhatia

Radhika Bansal

10 Feb 2022

IndiGo Co-Founder and Managing Director Rahul Bhatia have said the airline needs to continue expanding its domestic and "regional international footprint” besides strengthening the cargo franchise in the near term.

In an e-mail to employees on Tuesday, February 8, Bhatia, who was appointed as the Managing Director on February 4, said that he was looking forward to working closely with the management team just not only to establish and achieve near-term goals but also to get the company to be future-ready for the massive opportunity that lies ahead.

Rahul Bhatia, Co-Founder Managing Director, IndiGo

Bhatia has taken over as the airline’s first Managing Director at a time when the domestic aviation space is expected to see increased competition, particularly in the wake of Tatas acquiring Air India and Akasa Air expected to start services this year.

IndiGo is the country’s largest airline and has more than 50% of the domestic market share.

"In this (MD) role, I look forward to working closely with the management team to not only establish and achieve near-term goals but to get the company to be future-ready for the massive opportunity that lies ahead,” Bhatia said.

According to him, the airline should continue to grow "the domestic and the regional international footprint, further strengthen our cargo franchise with the induction of the first batch of A321 freighters, starting this summer, rapidly implement the digital agenda and prepare for entry into service of the A321 XLR aircraft”.

The induction of A321 XLR will extend IndiGo’s reach into markets where it has not been in a position to serve so far, he added. During the IPO process in 2015, the promoters and the then management team had promised an Indian airline of "great significance" to public shareholders, he said.

"I, as a founder-promoter, owe it our country and our shareholders the necessary stewardship to ensure that we continue to live up to our promise”.

In the last more than 16 years, employees’ collective efforts have built an "admirable" Indian brand, which has earned the goodwill of customers and public shareholders alike, Bhatia said.

IndiGo had a fleet of 283 aircraft, including 56 A320 CEOs, 140 A320 NEOs, 52 A321 NEOs and 35 ATRs at the end of December 2021. It operated a peak of 1,574 daily flights during the quarter, including non-scheduled flights.

ALSO READ - After 7 quarters of losses, IndiGo reported a profit of INR 130 crore

ALSO READ - IndiGo’s stock rises 10% since Q3 results

On February 4, IndiGo posted a profit after tax of INR 129.8 crore in the three months ended December 2021 amid the pandemic clouds. The airline’s parent InterGlobe Aviation had a loss of INR 620.1 crore in the year-ago period.

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Airbus cancels more A350 orders of Qatar Airways

Radhika Bansal

10 Feb 2022

A USD 600 million contractual and safety dispute between Airbus and Qatar Airways deepened on Tuesday, February 8 when the European planemaker revoked orders for two A350-1000 jets, days after ripping up an order from the Gulf carrier for 50 A321neos.

Qatar Airways has sued Airbus for more than USD 600 million and is refusing to take delivery of further A350s until its regulator receives a formal analysis of erosion to the painted surface and underlying lightning protection on 21 of the jets.

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

Airbus revoked orders for Qatar Airways' two A350-1000 jets

Airbus, which has two completed A350s ready for delivery to Qatar Airways, has said it has provided the necessary information on the problem of surface degradation and that the damage does not amount to a safety issue.

The planemaker said in a UK court filing in January that it was declaring Qatar Airways in default on two A350 jets that were completed and ready to be delivered.

It also took the unusual step of cancelling an order for 50 A321neo jets because the alleged default on the larger planes had triggered a clause allowing it to revoke the order for A321neos, which are in high demand. 

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

Qatar Airways last week ordered 25 competing Boeing 737 MAX, plus options for another 25, as well as 34 new 777X freighters during a visit by the Gulf state's ruling emir to Washington.

ALSO READ - Qatar Airways signs a deal for 737 Max and new 777X freighters with Boeing

The airline has denied in legal arguments that it has broken its contract by refusing to take two A350s waiting on the tarmac in Toulouse. It also says Airbus is not entitled to claim a "cross-default" allowing it to cancel the A321neo deal.

An Airbus spokesman said the company had "terminated delivery positions for two A350s for Qatar Airways in full compliance with our rights". Qatar Airways had no immediate comment.

Airbus included the cancellations for 50 A321neos and two A350-1000s in a monthly summary for January, pushing it into negative territory with a net total of minus 16 orders for the first month of the year, after receiving 36 new orders.

The planemaker delivered 30 airplanes in January.

(With Inputs from Reuters)

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To near space and back, but this time "cargo'' takes the front seat

Prashant-prabhakar

10 Feb 2022

Cargo is often transported by overnight express delivery and that's fairly a common norm. What if you wanna move cargo super-urgently from one hemisphere to the other? And within hours?

Decades back, transporting cargo between continents in less than two hours using hyperplanes might have sounded a little too far-fetched. Well. not so anymore. At least that's what serial entrepreneur Mikhail Korkorich, also dubbed as "like Russia's Elon Musk" believes so.

Freight Waves

Mikhail Korkorich is the founder of the Switzerland-based startup- Destinus- which is ramping up a test and development program for its cargo-carrying hypersonic aircraft after raising US$29 million in funding.

Here's what we know so far.

Hyperplane - the fastest delivery vehicle in the world

Space News

According to the company, the futuristic aircraft, is to combine the technological advancements of a spaceplane with the simple physics of a glider to create a vehicle that would move time-critical cargo across continents in a couple of hours or less, and the best part is- using clean liquid hydrogen fuel.

Destinus HyperXpress

Destinus’ hyper express delivery service is a whole new class of delivery that can move objects from any major metropolitan airport to another in under 2 hours.

Picture shipping goods from Memphis to Shanghai. The Destinus hyperplane could transport cargo in an hour and thirty minutes which would otherwise take close to 15 hours.

How do they do it?

The hyperplane is designed in a way that would enable it to take off from regular airport runways, fly slowly to the coast and travel to near-space heights before accelerating to  15 times the speed of sound.

Yahoo Finance

According to Korkorich, this would be accomplished using a first stage air turbo rocket engine, followed by a second stage rocket engine to blast to hypersonic speeds between Mach 13 and Mach 15 at mesospheric altitudes over 50 km.

The logic is simple. If you want to move something from one place on Earth to another place on Earth, you need to spend energy in several directions. One, you need to overcome gravity as long as you're keeping the plane in the air. So, longer means more gravity losses. Second is against the friction of the air, and third is for your maximum velocity kinetic energy.Mikhail Korkorich, Founder and CEO, Destinus

Mikhail Kokorich | Russia Beyond

Reportedly, the company flew "Jungfrau", its first prototype in November of last year. The test flight lasted five minutes at an airport near Munich at subsonic speeds to evaluate its aerodynamic performance during take-off and landing. Jungfrau is now being used as a testbed for future autonomous technologies.

AutoEvolution

We are excited about the broad support of our company. We plan to use the funding to continue the development of our hydrogen airbreathing and rocket engines and test the first supersonic flights powered by hydrogen engines in the next 12-18 months.Mikhail Kokorich

Summing up, the Hyperplane would feature:

Hypersonic cruise speedThousands of re-entry cyclesActively cooled heat shieldFully autonomous30 db quiter than supersonic planes

It is breath taking to see a future in which travel anywhere in the world in 1-2 hours will be available. Most importantly, the hyperplane under development will use liquid hydrogen to fuel its engines. That gives the great opportunity to fly fast and at the same time be carbon neutral. The only emission of such engines is water. I am excited that companies like Destinus will be able to provide European leadership in the aerospace sectorPhilipp Rösler, Destinus’ chairman of the advisory board and a former minister of economics and vice- chancellor of Germany

SOURCE(s)

COVER: TechEBlog

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Go First launches "priority boarding" service

Radhika Bansal

09 Feb 2022

Go First, formerly known as GoAir, on Tuesday, February 8 announced the "Priority Boarding" service to cut down the waiting time for its passengers.

The service is available on all domestic and international flights and will be applicable for all departing destinations on the airline network, Go First said in a release.

To decrease wait times, Go First has launched a "priority boarding" service.

"The service is available for pre-purchase across all channels i.e. GO FIRST website, mobile app, contact centres, counters and agents. It can be availed up to 2 hours before domestic departure and up until 3 hours before international departure," the airline added.

The service comes with a nominal cost and offers the flexibility of cancellation and rescheduling of flights. There is no additional fee for infants. In case of cancellation by the airline or cancellation of the flight, the fee will be refunded, Go First mentioned.

"The comfort and convenience of passengers is our utmost priority and we constantly strive to create an exceptional flying experience for them. The 'Priority Boarding' service to all passengers is another step in this journey, and demonstrates our continued commitment to the 'You Come First' philosophy."Kaushik Khona, Chief Executive Officer, Go First

The airline further stated that the "Priority Boarding" service will not apply to group bookings.

Established in 2005 and wholly owned by the Wadia Group, Go First is an ultra-low-cost carrier based at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai with a secondary hub at Indira Gandhi International Airport.

The carrier operates an extensive network of domestic services within India using Airbus A320 family aircraft. GoAir officially rebranded as Go First in May 2021.

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