Aerospace Diary

By Yash Patel Sept 22, 2013 Breakdown of the $900mn investment $380mn           –          24% Stake in Jet Airways (India) Ltd. $150mn           –          Investment up to the tune of 49% stake in Jet Privilege Pvt. Ltd.                                       (A wholly owned subsidiary of Jet Airways (India) Ltd.) $70mn             –          Sale and Lease Back of London Heathrow (LHR) Slots $300mn           –          Further com...

Neelam Mathews Oct 1, 2012 It is interesting to note that  after we published our blog on the mishandling of a manager at Mumbai airport by engineers not paid their salaries, the  PR division of Kingfisher woke up to the fact that the  " inconvenience that may be caused to our valued guests on account of this unprecedented action."  The press release of Kingfisher says: "   A section of employees of Kingfisher Airlines has not been reporting to work over the last fortnight and over the past 2 days, they have been threatening and even manhandling the other employees who are reporting to work as usual." So if they knew this was happening for two days, why did the airline not find the need to inform their "valued customers?"   "We are doing our best to minimize the impact of these anticipated disruptions," says the release. Really? Pray, tell us how. Now we're hearing the mantri (minister) talk of revoking Kingfisher's licen...

Neelam Mathews March 18, 2012 Even as tax authorities are unwilling to de-freeze Kingfisher’s accounts, Aerospace Diary learns Kingfisher’s restructured fleet plan to be submitted to DGCA on March 19, has under 18 aircraft. This would mean under 100 flights a day. The airline had earlier submitted its summer schedule to DGCA which included 28 aircraft. The aircraft will be a mix of the A320 family and ATRs, we learn. Officially, the airline has 66 aircraft listed on its website. It is still not clear how many AOGs there are as many of the parts have been cannabalised and how many aircraft have been returned or claimed by lessors. An enquiry to Kingfisher met with no response. With trouble on the international front, the carrier will pull out all international flights from March 25, with the possible exception of flights to London Heathrow that will be pulled out on April 10. It is not clear if IATA will return the security deposit (for BSP) of around Rs 30 crores to Kingfisher. “E...

Neelam Mathews February 18, 2012 It’s not the best of times for five star airline, Kingfisher, that is believed to have flown only around 20 of its fleet of 66 on Saturday. Aerospace Diary now hears this will be cut down to another four aircraft on Sunday (Feb 19). Interestingly, these will be a mix of ATRs and A-320s. This was confirmed by officials who told Aerospace Diary over five Kingfisher aircraft each were parked at Delhi and Mumbai airports. Attempts to reach the corporate communications head to confirm or deny the report were met with no repsonse. A letter to Kingfisher Airlines employees from senior management states that Kolkata will be pulled off from its routes from monday, while hinting Hyderabad will follow soon. The carrier is also looking at withdrawing from all its international routes starting with Dacca, Kathmandu, Colombo, Bangkok, and then London and Hong Kong. It is not clear if the DGCA has been informed of this decision. A distraught employee tells u...

News Aviation Daily Jan 20 , 2010 , p. 03 Neelam Mathews Air India will receive the first of 27 Boeing 787s on order in the first quarter of 2011 (April). The first 787 will be delivered to ANA in the last quarter this year, confirmed Dinesh Keskar, Boeing India President. Air India (AI) will receive about 15 787s by the end of 2012, according to an airline official who did not want to be identified. This figure was not confirmed by Boeing. The Indian carrier plans to replace its eight leased A310-300s with the 787s, said an Air India spokesman. Even as the carrier goes through major losses, Air India seems to be increasing its inventory of new aircraft steadily. According to Chairman Arvind Jadhav, the airline took deliveries of 29 aircraft in 2009 that enhanced fleet utilization and helped phase out 11 old aircraft. By March 2010, three 777-200s, two Airbus A310s and eight A320s will be returned or retired from the fleet, said Jadhav. Earlier efforts to lease out its 777s proved frui...