Having reported an operating profit of Rs 105 crore for 2015-16 fiscal, Air India is expected to post an improved operating profit margin this year as well, even as liquidity constraints continue to impact the smooth performance of the national carrier, the government said on Tuesday.

Air India, over the years and especially since the implementation of the turnaround plan, has been constantly improving its operational as well as financial performance, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.

A Delhi-bound Air India flight from Bhopal, carrying 122 passengers and crew on board, was diverted to Jaipur on Monday after the aircraft suffered a bird hit.

All the passengers deplaned safely after the aircraft landed at Jaipur, an Air India spokesperson said.

National carrier Air India will receive Rs 1,800 crore as equity infusion in 2017-18 under the government's ongoing financial assistance and the amount is slightly higher than the allocation for this financial year.

The allocation has been made in the Union Budget for 2017-18, which was presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday.

New Delhi: Air India has shortlisted three consulting firms—McKinsey and Co., Bain and Co. and EY—for a project to draw up its business strategy for the coming years, said Ashwani Lohani, the state-run airline’s chairman and managing director.

The firms have been shortlisted out of several that made presentations after the airline floated a tender inviting proposals in October last year.

NEW DELHI: Air India put the lives of its passengers at risk by not adhering to set operational rules at Leh airport, one of the most unsafe in the country. The matter came to light after a video showed an Air India flight turning towards the hills immediately after take-off.

While the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is investigating the matter, the national carrier has off rostered three pilots from flying to Leh, post the regulator’s investigation. “Air India is a little apprehensive about where the video has originated from.

International air travel is set to get costlier as Air India on Thursday increased the fuel surcharge component in fares on several routes. The move comes in the backdrop of a rise in jet fuel costs.

On routes from India to south-east Asia and Australia, the fuel surcharge has been revised by $15-$35 (Rs 1,000-RS 2,400) and the same was notified to travel agents on Thursday. The airline is revising the surcharge on Europe and US flights, too, by up to $80 but is yet to notify the change, it is learnt.

At a time IndiGo and SpiceJet are locked in a spat over the methodology adopted by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for computing on-time performance (OTP) of airlines, data for December once again show SpiceJet topping the chart on this parameter, registering a 70% OTP in the top four airports — Mumbai , Delhi, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, reports Malyaban Ghosh in New Delhi. It was closely followed by Jet Airways (64.3%), Vistara (64.2%) and GoAir (63.6%). According to the data, IndiGo, the largest airline by market share, and Air India had the lowest OTP at 61.6% and 59%, respectively, during the month.

The delivery of first two Airbus A320neo planes to Air India has been delayed by a month due to engine issues and the national carrier is now expected to induct these more fuel-efficient aircraft next month.

As per the earlier schedule, the airline was to take delivery of the two A320neo (new engine option) planes this month as part of its narrow-body fleet expansion plans.

“Rome was not built in a day,” quips Air India CMD Ashwani Lohani on the carrier’s struggles to emerge as a good service amidst its huge debt troubles. But Lohani does not think that the airline’s issues are insurmountable. In fact, he is optimistic that progress is being made in the right direction to increase the operating profit. “We are working to improve our performance. We have a lot of legacy issues, we have no magic wand to turn around things,” he says.

For those who insist that traveling is all about the journey, we say this: It really depends on which carrier you’re flying.

Aside from variations in cabins and service quality, there’s the major concern of how likely you are to get delayed. Fly on the wrong airline and your odds of a delay are as high as 55 per cent; choose the right one and that number shrinks way down to just 11 per cent. That’s enough to make or break a vacation's spell, no matter where you’re sitting on the plane. But how do you know which airlines to steer clear of, and which ones to prioritise?

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