Air India vacates Airlines House

THIRUVANANATHAPURAM: Air India has moved its staff from the iconic Airlines House, the erstwhile Indian Airlines ticketing office located at Mascot Hotel junction, into the Air India office at Vellayambalam. 

While the move is considered to be part of an austerity measure being adopted by the airline, it is also a big step toward acknowledging the merger between Air India and Indian Airlines, which according to official sources, is yet to penetrate into the psyche of the airline staff. 

In February TOI had reported that the airline owed Kerala government a sum of Rs 17.14 lakh towards lease rent arrears from July 2006. But the dues have been cleared, said Air India station manager SBS Jacob. "Dues have been settled until 2013, however, it is not decided what will be done with the building as it situated on a leased land. 

The land belongs to the government and the building belongs to us, so we cannot rent it out. We are awaiting orders from the Mumbai headquarters ," said Jacob. The Airlines House is situated on 20 cents leased by the government in December, 1982. Meanwhile, speculations are rife that the Airline House could be handed over to the government and could soon become the office of Air Kerala. 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/thiruvananthapuram/Air-India-vacates-Airlines-House/articleshow/17137325.cms

Mid-air scare: Man turns violent on Mumbai-Delhi flight, raises Islamic slogans

NEW DELHI: In what was described by a frequent flyer as the "scariest flight of his life", a passenger on board a Mumbai-Delhi IndiGo flight suddenly turned violent mid-air on Wednesday and started raising Islamic slogans while threatening to harm the aircraft. The situation turned so alarming that the cabin crew and passengers pinned down the flyer,Mursalim Shaikh, 41, and blocked the aisle with a food trolley to prevent him from making a dash for the cockpit.

The IndiGo flight 6E 196 made a quick descent in Delhi after seeking priority landing, where Shaikh, a used car dealer from Babu Tansen Chawl in Virar, was handed over to security agencies.

The drama began about an hour after the plane had taken off from Mumbai at 3.45pm and was flying over Jaipur. Shaikh, bearded and dressed in a pathani suit, was seated on seat 28 A. "He suddenly turned around on the seat to face an aged woman on 29A and started muttering menacingly to her," a flyer said. An airhostess reportedly asked Shaikh to sit properly, but he kept gazing at her before suddenly slapping her, turning very aggressive.

Recalling the hijack scare on a Delhi-Mumbai flight, a co-passenger said, "Shaikh was waving a cellphone and threatening 'sabko dekh loonga' (I will teach everyone a lesson)." Male passengers and the crew together pinned Shaikh down. Then women and children seated in the rear were sent to the front and a food trolley was placed in the aisle to prevent Shaikh from going towards the cockpit.

Confirming the incident, IndiGo said, "This unruly passenger started screaming and also physically assaulted a crew member. The passenger also got violent with co-passengers, and tried to access the forward of the aircraft. IndiGo crew made appropriate announcements and deployed security measures to block access to the front of the aircraft and the front galley."

Said a passenger, "We landed soon after the man had been overpowered." The flight commander had requested for security personnel on arrival. The passenger was taken out at 6.13pm and handed over to the CISF. IndiGo said it was in the process of lodging an FIR. "An untoward conduct of this nature is of serious concern to us. We will take all necessary action to address this violation," IndiGo said.

While passengers said the landing in Delhi came as a huge relief, the drama did not end there. For, the airline and airport personnel did not handle the situation as professionally as the crew had done in the air. "Once the aircraft door opened, we expected security personnel to rush in and arrest the flyer. But the airline's own security team came into the aircraft. We were first asked to alight and then a second announcement was made asking us to stay seated. We were wondering why security agencies did not just whisk the guy away?" said a passenger.

The IGI domestic airport police have arrested Shaikh and registered a case for criminal intimidation, assault and threatening the crew. The Intelligence Bureau is quizzing him.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Mid-air-scare-Man-turns-violent-on-Mumbai-Delhi-flight-raises-Islamic-slogans/articleshow/17135286.cms

Ajit Singh interfering with duty hours, pilots tell court

NEW DELHI: Accusing civil aviation ministerAjit Singh of undue interference, the Association of Indian Commercial Pilots has moved the Delhi High Court against the new flight duty hours.

The petition, which is likely to be taken up for hearing on Thursday, blames Singh for tinkering with the duty hours of pilots without consulting them or the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) as is mandatory.

Arguing that it was the sole prerogative of theDGCA to lay down maximum daily hours to be flown by pilots, the maximum daily duty hours as well as the daily landings permitted by a pilot, the pilots alleged that the minister had stepped beyond his jurisdiction.

The petition said even private airlines couldn't set their own flight and duty time limitations (FDTL), yet the minister went ahead in September and decided that the FDTL for Air India pilots will be revised upwards. The pilots claimed the minister also directed AI to implement the revised duty hours along with revised route allocations in gross violation of statutory laws.

"Bilateral agreements that protect pilots have been interfered with and revised by a third party which violates constitutional rights," the pilots said in their petition, urging the court to intervene and quash the revised duty hours.

The pilots claimed Singh had failed to discharge the function as a "neutral nodal minister" for the airline industry but had taken a decision to influence Air India on FDTL that posed a threat to safety of the aircraft apart from violating Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) rules.

The petition also said that since 1965, any change in FDTL was made after negotiation with pilots followed by approval of the DGCA. Yet, this time, in blatant disregard of established practices and conventions, the minister had issued new duty hours, the pilots complained.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Ajit-Singh-interfering-with-duty-hours-pilots-tell-court/articleshow/17135695.cms

Air India vacates Airlines House

THIRUVANANATHAPURAM: Air India has moved its staff from the iconic Airlines House, the erstwhile Indian Airlines ticketing office located at Mascot Hotel junction, into the Air India office at Vellayambalam. 

While the move is considered to be part of an austerity measure being adopted by the airline, it is also a big step toward acknowledging the merger between Air India and Indian Airlines, which according to official sources, is yet to penetrate into the psyche of the airline staff. 

In February TOI had reported that the airline owed Kerala government a sum of Rs 17.14 lakh towards lease rent arrears from July 2006. But the dues have been cleared, said Air India station manager SBS Jacob. "Dues have been settled until 2013, however, it is not decided what will be done with the building as it situated on a leased land. 

The land belongs to the government and the building belongs to us, so we cannot rent it out. We are awaiting orders from the Mumbai headquarters ," said Jacob. The Airlines House is situated on 20 cents leased by the government in December, 1982. Meanwhile, speculations are rife that the Airline House could be handed over to the government and could soon become the office of Air Kerala. 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/thiruvananthapuram/Air-India-vacates-Airlines-House/articleshow/17137325.cms

Airlines to inform passengers about changed flight status

If your flight gets delayed due to fog then expect to be informed in advance by the airline concerned because on Wednesday the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) instructed all the airlines flying out of Delhi to inform passengers about delays/rescheduling/cancellation of flights in advance through SMS, e-mail or phone from December 10 to February 10, the anticipated season of fog in the Capital.

The DGCA also asked the airlines to ensure that passengers are provided basic amenities along with provision of food at alternative airports in case flights get diverted. Besides, they have also been directed to depute a senior officer at Indira Gandhi International Airport during the fog period for passenger facilitation.

These decisions were taken during a meeting to review fog preparedness at the Indira Gandhi International Airport and other North Indian airports.

To avoid inconvenience to passengers, the DGCA asked for better coordination among all the stakeholders like the Airports Authority of India (AAI), scheduled domestic airlines, foreign airlines, Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), Indian Meteorological Department and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).

As per the new instructions, the airports and the airlines will have to ensure that the meteorological information for passengers should be displayed on the Flight Information Display System which should also be updated every 15 minutes. Weather information on IGI Airport should also be displayed on prominent news channels.

DIAL has been instructed to hold daily evening meetings of all stakeholders during the fog period to review the situation during the day and plan for the next day’s operations.

The DGCA has also said that after the fog situation improves, priority should be given to diverted flights. Air Traffic Control (ATC) should sequence the aircraft and give clearance for take-off based on the start-up request to avoid congestion.

Airlines will have to ensure that an adequate number of CAT III-trained pilots certified to fly during low visibility are available to operate flights to/from Delhi during fog.

In order to ensure smooth traffic at the IGI airport the DGCA has instructed that all construction work should be stopped near the operational area of the airport. Besides it has also advised the AAI not to start any construction work that might affect aircraft operations on the alternate airports at Jaipur, Lucknow, Amritsar, Ahmadabad and Varanasi during the fog period.

Authorities have also been told to draw the contingency plan regarding continuous serviceability of meteorological equipment during fog.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-newdelhi/airlines-to-inform-passengers-about-changed-flight-status/article4075966.ece

Airlines suspend New York flights

United Airlines and American Airlines suspended all flights to and from the New York area for a day on Wednesday in view of gale force winds.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/airlines-suspend-new-york-flights/article4075774.ece