Air India has signed an OnPoint solutions overhaul engine services agreement with GE Aviation for material related to the maintenance, repair and overhaul of its 96 CFM56-5B engines that power its Airbus A320 aircraft fleet, as per a release. “GE and Air India have a strong relationship that spans over 30 years. We are honoured by the confidence that Air India has reposed in us and we look forward to bringing high quality Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) work scoping, parts and component repair to its CFM56 5B engine fleet,” said Nalin Jain, CEO GE Aviation, South Asia. OnPoint solutions are customised service agreements tailored to the operational and financial needs of each customer for the fleet size.

Air India Express will withdraw its twice-a-week service on the Chennai-Tiruchi-Abu Dhabi/Abu Dhabi-Tiruchi-Chennai sector under its winter schedule, effective October 28, 2012, as per The Hindu Business Line report. According to sources,

Air India yesterday withdrew its plea seeking initiation of contempt proceedings against the office bearers of Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) for allegedly obstructing the implementation of its order on training of pilots for the Dreamliner aircraft. Appearing before a bench headed by Justice T S Thakur, Advocate Lalit Bhasin, Counsel for Air India said that the national carrier no longer wants to pursue the case and sought to withdraw the petition. The airline had on May 10 this year filed the application alleging that the protest by the IPG,

Air India Ltd. is seeking as much as USD 500 million of loans to help pay for four Boeing 787 planes. The airline will repay the bridge loan by selling and leasing back the aircraft, according to a tender document on its website. Banks have until August 24, 2012 to submit bids, it said. Two Dreamliners, funded by a USD 195 million loan from Standard Chartered Plc, are scheduled to arrive this month after the government approved a compensation offer from Boeing for

Despite the 58-day strike by a section of its pilots, national carrier Air India saw its revenues rise 21 per cent in the April-June, 2012 quarter. The carrier's top line rose three per cent in June over the same period last fiscal, notwithstanding the fact that it operated a truncated flight schedule on the international network during the entire month, officials said.

Government-owned Air India has constituted a committee to implement the recommendations of the Dharmadhikari Committee report on the pay and promotion structure of its staff. The panel has representation from personnel of the erstwhile Indian Airlines, now formally a part of AI, and the erstwhile Air India.

Ajit Singh, Minister for Civil Aviation, Govt of India recently constituted a four-member panel to examine Air India's route profitability, even as the strike by pilots of the national carrier continued for the 21th day, taking its losses to more than Rs 300 crore (about USD 55 million).

Passengers of Air India continued to face the brunt as the ongoing pilot strike entered its fifth day yesterday. This strike has resulted in the cancellation of several flights, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded. More than four international flights were cancelled at Mumbai airport yesterday morning while the same situation was witnessed at Delhi Airport,

The government yesterday said losses made by national carrier Air India could be around Rs 7,853 crore in financial year 2011-12. "As per the provisional estimates for the financial year 2011-12, Air India is likely to incur a loss of Rs.7,853 crore,"

Air India Ltd. will take delivery of all the Dreamliner planes it had ordered from Boeing Co. (BA), Ajit Singh, Minister for Civil Aviation, Govt of Gujarat said, in spite of the financial problems facing the national carrier. "It should be a good plane for Air India. We are not cutting on any orders," Singh told reporters. Air India had ordered 27 Dreamliners as part of a 111-plane USD 15 billion order to Boeing and Airbus in 2005 and 2006.

Protesting delayed payment of salaries and allowances, a section of Air India pilots today warned they would not undertake flying duties from April 1, 2012 if their dues were not cleared by then. The Indian Pilots Guild (IPG), which represents the pilots of pre-merger Air India, has shot off letters to Ajit Singh, Minister of Civil Aviation,

In a bid to generate more revenue in the price-sensitive Indian domestic market, state-owned carrier Air India will now reduce the number of business class seats, in a large number of their Airbus aircraft that fly on domestic routes, from 20 to 12 per flight. Correspondingly, the economy-class seats will be increased in these aircraft by 18 seats (three rows).

Flights over the country and the Indian Ocean, from East Africa to Australia, will soon be safer, more economical and environment friendly with the Airports Authority of India (AAI) moving a step closer to installing a GPS-Aided Geo-Augmented Navigation System (Gagan) for commercial aircraft. Once the system is operational, by late 2013 or early 2014

The Civil Aviation Ministry, in a release on Thursday following the Directorate General of Civil Aviation's (DGCA) meetings with air carriers, said, "With regard to Air India Express, concern was expressed about some safety issues that remain pending, and shortage of training captains.” The release added that airlines had been asked to submit their recovery plans with timelines next week.

Air India's debt restructuring has hit a hurdle as banks say they want seats on the airline’s board after they agreed to convert 40 per cent of its short-term debt, or around Rs 7,000 crore, into equity. “The consortium restructuring the debt has raised concerns over not getting any representation in the board even after converting a substantial part of the debt into equity,” said a senior Civil Aviation Ministry official, who did not want to be identified. “They have raised this issue with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) after the

If you look forward to a peg of fine scotch and find it missing on an Air India (AI) flight, don't blame it on cost-cutting. Liquor is not being served on certain AI flights since last week by the crew citing staff shortage.

In order to meet the growing demand from Doha to the Northern part of India, Air India Express will introduce Delhi as a new destination effective 26th October, 2009, three times a week

. The Mumbai flight will be extended to Delhi and the passengers from Doha to Delhi will travel without disembarking at Mumbai on the same aircraft.

From Delhi, Air India express will offer a flat add-on of QAR.150/- one way on Air India or Indian Airlines domestic flights to places like Amritsar, Srinagar, Varanasi, Patna, Lucknow etc.
A similar offer already exists over Mumbai to places like Baroda, Ahmadabad, Hyderabad, Chennai, Goa etc. In fact, over Mumbai or Delhi which are our gate way points, passengers can connect to any one destination in India at a flat add-on rate of QAR. 150/- one way on our services.

To Kerala Air India Express from October will fly daily to Kozhikode. It already flies daily to Kochi, twice weekly to Thiruvananthapuram and three times a week to Mumbai & Mangalore.

Click here to see the original article>