Aerospace Diary

AIN AIR TRANSPORT PERSPECTIVE  »  MAY 27, 2013 by    NEELAM MATHEWS Emirates Airline is one of several major international carriers that would like to be able to deploy the Airbus A380 on routes in and out of India, but it is still banned from doing so by the Indian government’s policy of protecting flag carrier Air India. (Photo: Emirates Airline) May 27, 2013, 10:30 AM With increasing numbers of Airbus A380s in their fleets, Asian and Middle East airlines are growing impatient to start deploying the super-large widebodies on services to and from India. But the Indian government’s policy of sheltering national carrier Air India from competition is preventing carriers such as Lufthansa, Emirates and Singapore Airlines ( SIA ) from using aircraft larger than the Boeing 747 under the terms of existing air services agreements. The number of Indians traveling abroad is set to rise from the current 15 million to 50 million by ...

AIN DEFENSE PERSPECTIVE  »  MAY 24, 2013 by    NEELAM MATHEWS An Indian Air Force requirement to replace these aging Avro 748 transports is supposed to create a privately held aircraft manufacturing company. (Photo: Indian Air Force) May 24, 2013, 9:00 AM India’s Ministry of Defense has issued a request for proposal ( RFP ) for the procurement of 56 transport aircraft to replace the air force’s aging fleet of around 30 Avro 748Ms. In a bid to launch an indigenous private defense manufacturing capability, this is the first time an  RFP  states that the Indian Production Agency ( IPA ) will be a private company. This leaves out Hindustan Aeronautics ( HAL ), which has until now held a monopoly in defense programs. The last date for submission of bids is October 8. The  RFP  for the five-ton and above, 50-seater transport aircraft with a rear ramp has been released to eight  OEM s–Airbus Military, A...

Neelam Mathews May 22, 2013 News is coming in that Etihad CEO James Hogan has announced Jet Airways plans to transfer its European hub from Brussels to Amsterdam's Schiphol. No time-line was given. Hogan also said that Etihad had no intention of joining Skyteam, but plans to work closely with US member, Delta. Etihad already works closely with KLM covering various destinations on a joint venture arrangement. Etihad’s daily service to Amsterdam, operated by a two cabin Airbus A330-200 and configured to carry 262 passengers with 22 in  Business Class and 240 in Economy Class, was launched on Wednesday 15 May and carries KLM’s KL code.The launch of the new flights coincides with the addition of 12 new KLM destinations out of Schiphol Airport which now carry Etihad Airways EY code. KLM has also added its KL code to a further six Etihad Airways destinations from its Abu Dhabi hub. The 12 additional destinations that Etihad Airways customers can now access through codeshar...

AIN AIR TRANSPORT PERSPECTIVE  »  MAY 20, 2013 by    NEELAM MATHEWS Air India reintroduced Boeing 787 service on May 15. (Photo: Boeing) May 20, 2013, 9:10 AM A major restructuring at Air India has cut loss-making routes to 25 percent of its network in the fiscal year ending March 2013, down from 69 percent in the previous year. The airline attributes the improvement to a series of steps taken to cut costs, restructure loans, strengthen management and liquidate assets, including the spin-off of engineering and ground handling as independent profit centers. Air India has also started the process of changing its business model to a “hybrid” one, said chairman and managing director Rohit Nandan. Following a recent approval by the ministry of civil aviation to allow for charging of extras, or “unbundling,” the airline has reduced its free baggage allowance on domestic flights to 15 kg from 20 kg. Meanwhile, the airlin...

Neelam Mathews May 21 2013 The travails of social media! Love it , hate it you can't ignore it. As the CEO of Indigo Aditya Ghosh may have realized on the first day of his entry to Twitter. We did a brief story on Thai Indigo twitter handle and this had many buzzing. Long and short, Ghosh was quick to react saying it was a fake site. Which has us wondering - there's got to be a law against such fraud. Oh and good news- Indigo is withdrawing the special charge for its middle seats, limiting the charge to only some specific seats. To us, that makes a lot of sense. 

Neelam Mathews May 20, 2013 Thai Indigo Airlines has a handle on twitter with as many as 97 followers and zero tweets.  Apparently it is a new happening. Or is this a a social media strategy to deal with Thai AirAsia? Or am I reading something more into it that doesn't exist? Am I missing something here? Will keep you posted.

Neelam Mathews May 19, 2013 There is an increasing realization on how the DGCA casually announced the unbundling- the newest word added to aviation parlance in India.Don't get me wrong. While I'm the first to support openness and transparency in the aviation sector, there are some c oncerns and we hope the DGCA is listening and, not just partially, like the BCCI!  Why, for instance, was the regulator in such a hurry? A date could have been indicated when the new system would start to ensure passengers, ie. consumers (yes they still exist!), could be given a chance to understand how it works for them. There is utter confusion in the market today. We think- given the comparitively new aviation business in India- DGCA could have set some guidelines for the unbundling, a word more misunderstood that most issues today. For instance, are the emergency seats on sale? If they are, that's a big safety issue. What if a disabled person is allotted the exit seats? Not the best...

Neelam Mathews May 17, 2013 The latest in a series of Lockheed Martin F-35A high angle of attack (AOA) testing was recently completed.  The testing accomplished high AOA beyond both the positive and negative maximum command limits, including intentionally putting the aircraft out of control in several configurations. This included initially flying in the stealth clean wing configuration. It was followed by testing with external air-to-air pylons and missiles and then with open weapon bay doors.  The F-35A began edge-of-the-envelope high AOA testing in the Fall 2012.  For all testing, recovery from out of control flight has been 100 percent successful without the use of the spin recovery chute, which is carried to maximize safety.

Neelam Mathews May 16, 2013 Nepalese media is reporting a Jomson-bound Nepal Airlines  that flew from Pokhara airport crash landed at Jomson Airport, Mustang this morning. The aircraft  from Pokhara, skidded off the runway, and fell into the Kali-Gandaki river. There were 19 passenger on board, eight foreigners, and rest locals, according to Pratap Babu Tiwari, In-charge of Pokhara Airport. No fatalities have been reported, though four pax are said to be critical.

Neelam Mathews May 14, 2013 If its not snoozing pilots, its locked out ones! Times Now is reporting how a pilot got locked out of the cockpit returning from a call of nature. The door jammed we are hearing. An Air India official rather calmly told the channel there was (fortunately) a commander on the right seat. "Engine ki to baat nahin thi- cockpit door ki baat thi," he said. Really, are we all now relegated to the status of morons? We have a few questions- while its too early to say- Isn't this an engineering issue? Failure of CRM? What if this happened with the earlier issue when the stewardesses were in the cockpit while both the pilots snoozed? Safety an issue at all? What if the co-pilot wasn't a commander?  Was there no cabin crew inside? Even if there were, how would they have landed the plane? However, the SOP requires them to be there. What if the co-pilot got a heart attack? Whatever the cause, Air India would do well financially selling st...

Neelam Mathews May 13, 2013   The government must have its eyes at the back of its head if it cannot recognize that of the 7980 Tatra trucks (including those with DRDO and Brahmos), around 2800 are off the road! That’s a scary figure and I’d hate to be head of ops should there be a national emergency. While around 20-30% parts are available in India, in the absence of purchase of further parts, the number of trucks out of operation are increasing day by day!  It is increasingly clear that the logistics sector of the army is most crippled by the off road trucks. Despite the fact there has been no blacklisting of either BEML or Tatra, it is the fear of the unknown and lack of decision making that has resulted in no action being taken in acquiring Tatra parts. As is the mandate of procurement, repairs are carried out at various Army workshops, though the spares are acquired from BEML only by the Master General of   Ordinance Service ( MGO) Branch. And, yes,...

Neelam Mathews May 12, 2013 Branson spills coffee on Fernandes................pay back time! The ways to market an airline are getting innovative to the point of being funny, some would say, wierd. Since humor is not found as much in the domain of aviation - take this! Donning his famous beard  and sporting an AirAsia uniform, Sir Richard having lost a bet to Tony Fernandes 'served" as a flight attendant on an AirAsia flight to Kuala Lumpur from Perth International Airport early today. Credit-Getty Images Being poiltically incorrect, I was wondering how Rohit Nandan, Chairman of Air India would look donning an IndiGo uniform if he ever lost a bet to Aditya Ghosh! While there are mixed feelings on these antics, time somebody brought a smile to passengers. I can almost hear the opposition yelling on how this taints our culture. Guess we're cocky enough to think the other (countries) have none! Though personally I did feel the kissing competition on Scoo...

AIN DEFENSE PERSPECTIVE  »  MAY 10, 2013 by    NEELAM MATHEWS May 10, 2013, 10:30 AM The Indian Naval air arm is set to double its fleet of 217 aircraft in the next decade. The fleet–a mix of 14 models–“has emerged as a mini air force,” said assistant chief of naval staff (Air) Rear Admiral  D.M.  Sudan. On May 11 the Navy will commission the first of three MiG-29K squadrons at its base in Goa. One is for training. The 16 aircraft originally ordered have all been delivered, as have four of a further 29. They will fly from the aircraft carrier  INS  Vikramaditya  (previously  Admiral Gorshkov ), which has taken five years longer than planned to be refitted. Later, they will also fly from the Indian-built aircraft carrier ( IAC -1), which is under construction in Kochi in Kerala. The MiG-29Ks are replacing Sea Harriers that previously received a limited upgrade. The  VTOL  aircraft will b...

Neelam Mathews May 9, 2013 We're hearing from reliable sources that the RFP for the Avro replacement is out. The bid has gone to several companies including HAL, which was originally not to be part of the bid.  However, we could not confirm whether HAL was also a recipient. Let us hope this time around, there will be a serious effort to manufacture the aircraft in the country rather than bring in licensed production as has been the norm.

Neelam Mathews May 6, 2013                  Cafepress.com There is no doubt that many hats are off to Jet Airways for setting standards few could match in India when it started operations and years later. Its two decade history is witness to initiative and innovation. As it turned 20-years, Chairman Naresh Goyal reiterated: “ As India’s premier airline, we are committed to offering our guests the very best travel experience both in the skies and on the ground…..(we) will always be nothing but the best, with a truly world-class in-flight product.." We feel now is the time for introspection as the carrier moves to broader frontiers. While courtesy extends to all passengers, we   illustrate an example of a recent Gold Card passenger, Mr Verma, (not his real name) who in Mumbai airport, headed for the Jet Privelege counter for a ticket print out that was the start of his horror experience...

AIN DEFENSE PERSPECTIVE  »  MAY 3, 2013 by    NEELAM MATHEWS IAI-Elta will likely re-bid its airborne integrated signal intelligence system (Aisis), seen here on a Gulfstream G550 model, for a new Indian requirement. (Photo: Chris Pocock) May 3, 2013, 11:09 AM Within the next month, the Indian Air Force ( IAF ) will re-release a request for proposal ( RFP ) for nine aircraft to perform signals intelligence (Sigint), communications jamming (Comjam), ground survey and target towing roles. The previous  RFP released four years ago shortlisted Embraer and Israel Aerospace Industries ( IAI ), both offering the  IAI -Elta airborne integrated signal intelligence system (Aisis). But delays in defining India’s offset policy resulted in price escalation from the bidders, leading the Indian defense ministry to cancel that  RFP . The new  RFP  specifies a larger aircraft that can carry 10 passengers. T...