AI, AIE services hit

Flights of Air India (AI) and Air India Express (AIE), the low-cost arm of the national carrier, from Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi were affected on Monday following the ongoing strike by a section of pilots.

The services from Kozhikode were unaffected. The airline cancelled the AIE IX 481 Thiruvananthapuram-Kochi-Dammam service. A spokesman for the airline said the AIE IX 402 Kochi-Mumbai flight had been cancelled to operate the flight from Kochi to Dammam at 8 a.m. on Tuesday. The passengers will be taken to Kochi on the flight that leaves from here to New Delhi. The AIE IX 537 Thiruvananthapuram-Abu Dhabi-Dubai flight of Tuesday has been cancelled. On May 16, the AI 929 Thiruvananthapuram-Kochi-Riyadh flight will operate only from Kochi. The airline has asked the passengers who had booked tickets from Thiruvananthapuram to board the flight from Kochi. The flight will depart from Kochi on Wednesday at 5 p.m. instead of the scheduled 1.20 p.m. Arrangements have been made by the AI to take the passengers by road from Thiruvananthapuram.

The airline has cancelled the AI 923 Kozhikode-Riyadh flight and the AIE Kozhikode-Kuwait flight of Tuesday.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/article3420294.ece?css=print

Pilots' licences may be terminated: DGCA

Show-cause notice has been issued to the striking pilots of Air India and a list with names of 11 pilots whose licences may be terminated is ready, Director General of Civil Aviation E.K. Bharat Bhushan said here on Monday evening. “We cannot have discussions during the strike and the pilots have not served notice before going on the strike. I hope that better sense prevails,” he told presspersons here on Monday. Referring to the airport project in Aranmula, Mr. Bhushan said that the government has given in principle approval for the project. Environmental and technical-feasibility clearances were awaited. The DGCA came into the picture later.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/article3420331.ece