Coming to the defence of the beleagured Air India, government on Tuesday said that the performance of Air India has improved and it is making profit for the first time in 10 years.

“Air India’s all-time performance has increased. This year it is making profit, which is the first time in last 10 years. It is making an operative profit. Air India is doing good work,” Raju asserted.

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has virtually turned Air India One into a flying PMO. While he is known to work and hold meetings on its long flights, the teetotaller PM has ensured that everyone else on board does so too by not allowing any liquor to be served on the aircraft. "Liquor is simply not served on the PM's flights," said a highly placed source.

Air India, which has seen its operating loss fall consistently in the past few years, expects to post a "modest operating profit" for the just- concluded fiscal, Union Minister Mahesh Sharma said today.

The national carrier is implementing a turnaround plan under which it is to get an equity infusion of Rs 30,231 crore up to 2021 subject to achieving certain milestones as laid out in the plan.

After the frequent grounding of its aircraft due to rodents, Air India chairman Ashwani Lohani carried out an inspection at Delhi airport and directed the staff to ensure strict maintenance and cleanliness of the hi-lift trucks used by catering companies.

Also, staff of the government-owned airline will be restrained from eating meals in the ramp area (where the aircraft is parked during boarding). “We have also requested Delhi International Airport Ltd to provide space for a staff canteen,” said Lohani.

Managing disgruntled employees and launching new flights, including one to Washington in August, are among Air India’s priorities this financial year, the state-run airline’s chairman has said in an internal note.

Instances of strange and sometimes indisciplined behaviour by some of the airline’s employees continue to surface—the most recent being a pilot refusing to fly till he had his choice of co-pilot.

National carrier Air India has suspended one of its senior commanders after he refused to operate the inaugural flight on Bhopal-Mumbai route at the last minute.

Following the incident, CMD of Air India, Ashwani Lohani said that they do not tolerate such indiscipline.

NEW DELHI: Air India on Wednesday suspended one of its senior commanders for refusing to operate an inaugural flight at the last minute. The airline had introduced a number of new flights in the current summer schedule that kicked in from this Sunday.

"One of the new routes was Bhopal-Mumbai that was to start on Monday evening. The aircraft for the first flight, an Airbus A-320, to fly on this route was to go from Delhi. But the senior commander who had to operate the aircraft (for the inaugural flight) refused at the last minute and disappeared from Delhi airport," said a senior AI official.

An Air India flight made emergency landing at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport here on Monday due to tyre burst, causing smoke in the undercarriage.

The Air India flight was coming from Hyderabad and it has been reported that all the 120 passengers on-board are safe.

The Calicut-Mumbai Air India flight will depart from here at 8.55 AM with effect from tomorrow, as per the revised scheduled announced by the airline

Currently the flight departs here at 7.45 AM.

Air India is in the process of evaluating several options to bring down the government's stake once it turns profitable. The national carrier expects to turn profitable in 2018-19, two years ahead of the original turnaround target of 2020-21 through better revenue generation and restructuring of the Rs 10,000-crore term loans with government guarantee backed non-convertible debentures.

One of the options being considered is conversion of debt into equity such that the government's stake comes down to 51 per cent. Aviation ministry officials said in every internal meeting of Air India, privatisation was discussed at length, though there is no clarity on how the airline plans to rope in private investors.

Inviting Real Estate Agents, Job Placements Agents, Educational Institutes, Software Service Providers, Real Estate Builders, Marriage Bureaus, Travel Agents, Restaurant Owners, Health & Fitness Centers and other Local Businesses to Post a FREE Classified Advertisement on Cootera.com Classifieds Website.