A senior Air India (AI) pilot has been accused of flouting the airline's norms for conducting final release check of a junior pilot.

According to AI's training manual, approved by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the final release check of a first officer (co-pilot) can be conducted only by a Type Rated Instructor (TRI).

An Air India flight with around 300 passengers on-board was grounded here on Wednesday before its departure for New York due to hydraulic failure in one of the aircraft engines.

All the passengers have been accommodated in a nearby hotel and the flight has been rescheduled for 5 PM today, an Air India spokesperson said.

Air India has decided to formulate certain rules to reduce the activities of unruly passengers. After an increase in the number of incidents of passengers being denied boarding by Indian airlines, Air India has also decided to impose fine on passengers for the delay. According to the news agency ANI, for a delay up to 1 hour, a fine of Rs 5 lakh will be imposed. In case the delay is between 1 to 2 hours, a fine of Rs 15 lakhs will be imposed and for any delay beyond 2 hours, the passengers will have to pay rs 15 lakhs as fine.

Government-owned Air India today announced a discounted Star award mileage redemption offer for passengers planning to travel within the USA. The six-day offer that commenced from Thursday, will remain valid till April 18. The travel period under the offer can be taken any time during the next 330 days, Air India said in a release.

Besides, the offer allows passengers to revive and redeem their flying return points that were not availed and have expired now, it said.

In line with the reduction of interest rates in the market Air India, burdened with a neck-high debt of over Rs 46,000 crore, has asked 16 of its lenders to cut down the interest rates by as much as 2 percent in a letter. In order to settle its debt, the airline is also in talks with the Ministry of External Affairs and also with a state-owned infrastructure company NBCC to generate money by selling off 98 of its properties, some of which are in India and some are overseas.

An Air India pilot has been grounded for three months after he tested positive in the mandatory pre-flight alcohol test, minutes before operating a flight to Abu Dhabi from here.

The pilot was rostered to fly the Air India Express IX 115 Delhi to Abu Dhabi flight, which was scheduled for departure from Indira Gandhi International Airport at 8:50 pm yesterday.

Refusing to apologise to the Air India official whom he allegedly thrashed, Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad on Saturday said he would only tender an apology from Parliament for disrespecting its dignity.

Asserting that it was a small conflict, Gaikwad said the staff of the airline is mad and around eight such cases of indulging into brawl have been registered against him.

A near collision was averted on Friday as an Air India and an IndiGo aircraft came face-to-face at IGI airport here.

Air India's Delhi-Goa AI156 was about to take off from runway 28 at 11.15 am when the Air Traffic Controller (ATC) asked the pilot to stop and come back to bay, Air India sources said.

Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad who has been banned from flying by several airlines after he allegedly hit an Air India staffer, on Thursday defended himself saying he has not done anything wrong.

"I would request you to listen to my plea and provide me support for the same," said Gaikwad who arrived in Parliament on Thursday for the first time after two weeks.

The Air India board has approved a proposal seeking to induct the wide-bodied Boeing 787-9 aircraft in the fleet as it plans to expand operations to the US besides launching services to Canada. Air India will lease seven B787-900 planes, the higher range of B787-8 aircraft, for which the Board has given its go-ahead, Chairman and Managing Director Ashwani Lohani said. “The board’s approval for leasing of seven B787-900 planes has come by,” Lohani told PTI.

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