Day 2 of Jet Airways Strike;179 flights cancelled

As day 2 of the Jet Airways strike dawned, it was clear that passengers were going to have another harrowing travel day across the country. 179 flights have been cancelled till noon and close to 20000 passengers are stranded at various parts of the country currently. Several flights have been cancelled till noon but flights to Europe, UK and North America remain as per schedule.

As the Jet management toughened its stand overnight, with the Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal doing some plain speak, the pilots are now looking to resolve the imbroglio. Meanwhile, government is contemplating invoking ESMA.

More updates soon!

The curious case of AI 829

5 days back, an Air India 747-400 caught fire on engine 1, while taxiing to runway 27. This was  AI 829 on it way from BOM-RUH. Fuel leakage was initially suspected to be the cause of leakage from corrode fuel lines. All 213 passengers were evacuated in a matter of minutes post  the incident on taxiway A3. Post this, on the 5th of September, we learnt that the two pilots have been de-rostered with DGCA confirming the same.

Air India officials quoted “It is a standard operating procedure when an incident takes place involving an aircraft to deroster those involved so that they can be available to give their statements,” an AI spokesperson said, adding that the cabin crew was questioned by DGCA officials on Saturday morning.

This clearly looks to be a AI Maintenance issue and nothing else. Do you think that the pilots need to be de-rostered for this?Air your views!

130 flights cancelled as pilots go on mass leave

At least 130 flights have been reported to have cancelled because of Jet Airways’ pilots going on mass leave today. Passengers in Mumbai were the worst hit with 115 flights out of the total 345 failing to take off while at least 10 flights of Jet Airways and its subsidiary JetLite were cancelled in Delhi. In Chennai, 6 flights were cancelled and 3 in Kolkatta wa cancelled.  Hit by the crisis, Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal met civil aviation secretary Madhavan Nambiar on Tuesday morning for about half-an-hour and is understood to have discussed the situation.

The pilots have been demanding the reinstatement of two of their colleagues, who were sacked recently. The airline has some 700 pilots on its rolls. The newly formed National Aviators Guild, a union of some Jet Airways pilots, has called the strike. They are protesting the sacking of two of their colleagues earlier this month. The airline has declined to recognise this union. The two sacked senior pilots, Balaraman and Sam Thomas, were told of their termination by e-mail.

Southwest flies into Boston

Southwest Airlines, at long last began flights in and out of Boston heralding a new era in low cost aviation from Boston. The only “premium” LCC that flew in and out of Boston was JetBlue. The first ferry flight arrived in BOS from Dallas Love Field on August 18. Boston will see flights to Chicago Midway(MDW)  and to Baltimore (BWI) using 10 daily flights.

Fares to these areas have already dipped by 30% in the first week that Southwest started servicing. It will be interesting to see fallout on the BOS-Chicago route considering the fact that all major carriers such as AA, UA, DL and Jet Blue fliy this route.

Oman Air will fly to six new destinations from Muscat

Oman Air will fly to six new destinations from Muscat starting in either September or October this year, it has been reported.

The new destinations are Colombo, Male, Kathmandu, Frankfurt, Zurich and Paris. He said the carrier will increase frequencies between Doha and Muscat.

Colombo and Kathmandu are important for the increasing expatriate population from Sri Lanka and Nepal in this region. Similarly, Male is important for tourists travelling to the Far East while Frankfurt, Zurich and Paris are important for Europe-bound tourists. The airline currently operates daily flights to London and six flights a week to Bangkok.

However, India is the carrier’s biggest revenue earner. The airline flies to 10 cities in India, including Chennai, Bangalore, New Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad.

Air Canada announces new route between Montreal and Brussels

Air Canada said it will offer direct flights between Montreal and Brussels, Belgium, starting in June 2010. The route will also feature same-plane service continuing to and from Toronto.

Air Canada says passengers flying to Brussels will be able to make connecting flights to destinations across Europe and Africa through future Star Alliance partner Brussels Airlines.

As of next summer, Air Canada will offer six direct routes to European cities leaving from Montreal.

Air Canada, which has been hit hard by the global recession, recently announced a three-year plan to cut costs by $500 million.

Ryanair announces 14 new routes and expansion plans

Ryanair has announced that it plans to start 14 new routes and expand its bases at both Dusseldorf Weeze and Madrid.

The carrier said that eight new routes will operate from Edinburgh, while two new routes will be added to Dusseldorf Weeze and four to it’s Madrid service. The summer routes to and from Malta and Rome Campino will also be extended, the low budget airline said in a statement today.

All the new routes will begin operating on October 30.

Air Asia launches second daily between Kuala Lumpur and Trichy

As per GDS timetable display on 18AUG09, Air Asia is to launch 2nd Daily Kuala Lumpur – Thiruchirapally from 01SEP09 on its brand new Airbus A 320. This flight has shown tremendous demand ever since it was launched in 2008. Loads have always been above 90% consistantly prompting Air Asia to launch its second daily flight.

Schedule as follows:

AK231 KUL0740 – 0855TRZ Airbus A320
AK237 KUL1515 – 1630TRZ Airbus A320

AK232 TRZ0925 – 1540KUL Airbus A320
AK238 TRZ1700 – 2315TRZ Airbus A320

Ryanair announces new base

Low-cost airline Ryanair today announced it is to set up a base at Leeds Bradford International Airport creating hundreds of new jobs.
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary was at the airport to make the announcement, which the Dublin-based airline said would have a “significant impact” on the English region.

It is a major boost to the airport, which is on course to almost double in size after planners recently gave permission for a £28m (€32.5m) development. The scheme includes upgrading the terminal, which would also feature a new two-storey extension to accommodate a new airside departure lounge.

Iberia tops airline worst baggage handling list

In a  new low for Iberia, it found itself in the top of the heap with reference to loss of baggage.

Over the winter months, for the period ended 31 March, the Spanish carrier lost 19.2 bags for every 1,000 passengers boarding its flights. As a result, its performance was rated the worst among the 26 carriers participating in a recent Association of European Airlines (AEA) survey.

Air France was rated the second-worst, losing 18.9 bags per 1,000 passengers, and was followed on the list by TAP Portugal, at 17.3 bags, with bmi coming in fourth, mishandling 17.2 bags per 1,000 passengers. British Airways came in with a rate of 15.6 lost bags per 1,000 passengers, which is a significant improvement over past performance. The improvement is largely being attributed to its new terminal, Terminal 5, which had a disastrous start but is now functioning smoothly.

Iberai was at its worst inn the summer of 2007, when the airline was mishandling 38 bags for every 1,000 passengers.

I hope Iberis does not go down the road of poor customer service for basic things such as baggae handling…