New Delhi: The man who took on corruption in the aviation sector, Bharat Bhushan, was suddenly removed as the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday. This came a week after his tenure was extended till the end of this year by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet. While the reason for his removal has not been specified, sources in the DGCA say that two days ago Bhushan had...
09:14 AM, Jul 11, 2012
New Delhi: Aviation regulator E K Bharat Bhushan was on Tuesday abruptly removed from his key position in the backdrop of his tough stance against debt-ridden Kingfisher Airlines over its failure to pay salaries to its employees. In a swift move by the Civil Aviation Ministry, Bhushan, who has been the Director General of Civil Aviation for nearly two years, was replaced by Prashant Narain Sukul, a Joint Secretary in...
08:40 PM, Jul 10, 2012
Before we answer that question, let's first survey the grim reality. For the past five months, about 4,500 employees of the airline haven't been paid their salary. Many of them say they can't quit because they won't get a single dime out of their dues from their employer. Airports, which allowed the red and white aircraft to land and take off, haven't been paid either. Faced with the spectre of...
11:35 AM, Jul 09, 2012
New Delhi: India's civil aviation regulator on Monday directed all domestic airlines to check the exponential rises in air fares, even as demand declined in May by 0.87 per cent and stood at 54.48 lakh passengers. According to the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the airlines were also directed to have a relook on the route-wise airfares offered in the highest fare bucket, so as to rationalise phenomenally high...
10:07 AM, Jun 19, 2012
Jaipur: A foreign chartered aircraft flying from Muscat to Dhaka was detained overnight by authorities in Jaipur after it entered restricted area over Jodhpur airbase but was released on Monday following questioning of its pilot. The aircraft with four crew members on board flew over Jodhpur Airforce area without permission before its scheduled landing at the Sanganer Airport in Jaipur for refuelling on Sunday evening, officiating Director, Sanganer airport, P...
08:32 AM, Jun 12, 2012
Aviation Safety Consultant Captain Mohan Ranganathan says the army official must be penalisd. ...
10:37 AM, Jun 07, 2012
New Delhi: In a shocking incident, aviation rules were being flouted by a senior Army official. The incident took place on a GoAir flight from Leh to Jammu on Wednesday when Lt General Ravi Dastane entered the cockpit during the flight. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has reacted to the CNN-IBN report grounding both the pilots. The Chief Safety Officer has also been summoned by the DGCA. He...
08:26 AM, Jun 07, 2012
New Delhi: With no end in sight to the Air India pilots' strike, the national carrier has firmed up plans to hire new cockpit crew to run its long-haul international operations which have been hit by the 29-day long agitation. Hiring of new batches of pilots is part of a new business plan for international operations, which the ailing carrier is likely to announce on Wednesday. It would be implemented...
03:58 AM, Jun 06, 2012
New Delhi: Three striking pilots of Air India, sacked by the national carrier, on Monday appeared before the DGCA and explained their position on the show-cause notices issued to them by the aviation regulator, official sources said. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had asked these pilots, who are senior members of the de-recognised Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) that is leading the pilots' strike, to appear before it and...
05:27 AM, Jun 05, 2012
New Delhi: Aviation regulator DGCA on Thursday asked three office-bearers of the de-recognised Indian Pilots Guild (IPG), leading the pilots' strike, to appear before it on Monday and explain as to why their flying licenses should not be cancelled for not joining duty. As the strike led by the IPG entered the 25th day, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation asked the three office-bearers to appear before it on June...
10:48 PM, May 31, 2012
New Delhi: Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh on Monday 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 $55 mn). The decision came after the minister reviewed the status of flights on domestic and international routes which are non-profitable. According to a ministry official,...
01:51 AM, May 29, 2012
New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested two pilots for allegedly facilitating cheating in the Commercial Pilot License Exam held earlier in March this year. While one arrested pilot belongs to Alliance Air, the other works with a Gurgaon-based private airlines. The investigations conducted so far reveal that the question paper was allegedly taken out of DGCA's Chief Examination Officer's office and then passed on to the...
12:35 PM, May 23, 2012
New Delhi: Three DGCA officials have been suspended for issuing licences classifying 28 flying schools as charitable non-profit entities instead of fully commercial entities, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said on Thursday. He said based on investigation report submitted by the Chief Vigilance Officer in the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), it was decided to suspend the three officials alleged to have been involved in preparation of the list...
08:49 PM, May 17, 2012
New Delhi: Several Air India pilots submitted medical certificates to the Air India management even as their strike entered the eighth day on Tuesday, leading to 24 flights being cancelled. Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said that the pilots were making false claims of being sick and not reporting for duty. An Air India team visited the homes of the striking pilots and prepared a medical summary of the Delhi base...
02:00 PM, May 15, 2012
New Delhi: Aviation Minister Ajit Singh on Tuesday said that Air India pilots were making false claims of being sick and not reporting for duty. Singh made the statement after several pilots submitted medical certificates to Air India management even as their strike entered the eighth day on Tuesday, leading to 24 flights being cancelled. The Minister vented his anger, saying the sick claim was bogus and it was evident...
01:07 PM, May 15, 2012
New Delhi/Mumbai: As the stalemate between Air India and agitating pilots entered the fifth day on Sunday, the DGCA tonight issued notices to 11 office bearers of Indian Pilots Guild(IPG) after the airline management sought cancellation of their flying licences. The 11 pilots have been given a week's time to file their reply, sources in the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said, a day after the state-owned airline wrote...
03:21 AM, May 14, 2012
New Delhi: Privatisation could be the only way to save Air India, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh has said. Speaking to Karan Thapar on Devil's Advocate, he hinted at looking at that option once the airline becomes viable. "We have to put Air India on the right track, make it viable and then if you look around you will note that the days of national carriers are gone. Any country...
07:49 AM, May 13, 2012
New Delhi: There seems to be no end in sight to the Air India crisis. The pilots' strike entered the fifth day on Saturday and passengers continued to suffer as 15 flights were cancelled. Following is the list of the 15 Air India flights cancelled on Saturday: AI 120 from Delhi to Frankfurt cancelled AI 990 from Delhi to Jeddah cancelled AI 348 from Delhi to Mumbai cancelled AI 112...
07:47 AM, May 12, 2012
New Delhi: There seems to be no end in sight to the Air India crisis. The pilots' strike entered the fifth day on Saturday and passengers continued to suffer as 15 international flights were cancelled. On Friday, Air India sacked 25 more pilots taking the total number of sacked pilots to 71 in four days, even as the pilots reached out for talks. Air India also wrote to the Directorate...
07:34 AM, May 12, 2012
New Delhi: There seems to no end to the turbulence in national carrier Air India. The airline has sacked 24 more pilots, taking the total number of axed pilots to 70. The national carrier has also written to the aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to cancel flying licences of the sacked pilots. Meanwhile, the airline has framed a contingency plan for international flights, starting Monday at 6...
09:24 PM, May 11, 2012
