NEW DELHI: A cabin crew member of an Air India flight was detained by the Jeddah Airport authorities on charges of smuggling out gold.

The detained cabin crew was to board the flight bound for Kochi, along with 11 other crew members, sources said here tonight.

Government carrier Air India said it will not buy five Boeing 787-9 aircraft anymore. The decision to stick to the original model of inducting Boeing Dreamliner (787-8) aircraft was taken at a board meeting held recently. The 787-9 variant has a longer flying range and 40 more seats over the 787-8.

Air India, which has 20 Dreamliners, had signed a deal in 2005 to acquire 68 Boeings, including 27 787s. At present, it uses both narrow-body Airbus A320 and wide-body Boeing 747-400s, 777s and 787-8 on international routes.

The ministry of finance has not accepted a proposal by Air India to treat Rs 4,300 crore of the government’s equity infusion into the airline as a grant or income so as to prop up the bottom line of the carrier. “The finance ministry hasn’t favourably considered the request from Air India,” a senior Air India official told FE.

FE had earlier reported that the Rs 4,300 crore equity received by Air India, as part of the government’s infusion in accordance to the Turn Around Plan (TAP), will be used to fund the interest cost. Therefore, Air India executives want to treat this equity infusion as an income in the airline’s balancesheet.

NEW DELHI: Cracking the whip on errant employees to improve on time performance (OTP), Air India (AI) has suspended 17 air hostesses for allegedly delaying flights.

The airline has started monitoring when each of its crew reports to airports to operate flights. "These 17 cabin crew members were found to have delayed flights more than three times and they have been suspended," said an AI official.

NEW DELHI: The Tata Group has virtually ruled out re-acquiring Air India when the government decides to divest in it.

"That was 14 years ago (when Tatas were keen on buying back AI.) Not now," Tata Sons-Singapore Airlines (SIA) JV Vistara chairman Prasad Menon told TOI.

BHUBANESWAR: A Delhi-Bhubaneswar Air India flight (AI 873) made an emergency landing at Lucknow airport with 169 passengers onboard at about 12.30 pm on Tuesday. All the passengers were safe after the landing.

Airport sources here said that there was minor crack in the windshield forcing the pilot to land at Lucknow airport. The flight left Delhi at 11.30 am and was to land in Bhubaneswar at 1.15 pm.

Low-cost carrier Air Asia India has decided to go slow with its fleet expansion due to lack of clarity on international flying rules. It has also deferred its one-plane-per-month fleet expansion plan, and plans to end the year with 7-10 planes from the present five.

"We slowed down in adding one plane a month plan. I took the call of watching and waiting," airline's chief executive Mittu Chandilya told PTI, and blamed the decision to the lack of clarity on overseas flying rights for new airlines.

A stringent psychological test for pilots in the wake of the Germanwings disaster has led Air India to reject nearly a third of the prospective candidates.

The airline might find it difficult to fill posts for senior trainee pilots for Airbus A320 aircraft.

Air India has dismissed Indian Commercial Pilots Association’s (ICPA) claim that the airline pays its junior pilots on an ad hoc basis, doesn’t pay them for domestic night stops, forces them to fly overtime and does not grant them leave, causing illness. ICPA had written to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation on the issue, marking a copy to Air India, last month.

ICPA had highlighted that 40-45 junior pilots at Air India were under stress because being ad hoc, they got a third of the salary. Besides, one fine day, the airline management had “unilaterally” changed the terms of employment for co-pilots. The letter was sent to DGCA just a few days after a German pilot (suffering depression) crashed a Lufthansa plane in the French Alps, killing 150.

New Delhi: Air India Ltd, the state-owned carrier, is in talks with Airbus Group NV to order single-aisle jets valued at $1.5 billion (around Rs.9,600 crore) in list prices, according to a person with direct knowledge of the discussions.

The carrier wants to purchase at least 14 A320neo aircraft, according to the person, who asked not to be identified as the discussions are private. An A320neo costs $106.2 million at list prices. Buyers usually get a discount when they order planes in bulk.

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