Aviation
Ahead of Privatisation, Air India to Offer Volunteers Retirement to 15,000 Employees
(Reuters) – Air India is drawing up a proposal to offer voluntary buyouts to just over a third of its 40,000 employees, a senior company official said, one of the largest such offers in India’s state sector, as the carrier slashes costs ahead of a 2018 sale.
The official, who could not be named as the plans are not public, said the state-owned airline had also put fleet expansion on hold, scrapping a proposal to lease eight Boeing 787 wide-body aircraft. Air India’s board approved the proposal in April but nothing further had been done.
India’s flag carrier is on the block after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet last month approved plans to privatise the loss-making airline – selling part or all of the company and ending decades of state support.
Founded in the 1930s and known to generations of Indians for its Maharajah mascot, Air India has a complex fleet, too many staff relative to its peers and $8.5 billion in debt. Since 2012, New Delhi has injected $3.6 billion to keep it afloat.
An official in Modi’s office said the leader, under pressure to cut spending and boost basic infrastructure like ports and roads, is in “no mood” to provide fresh monetary assistance to any loss-making public sector company.
The official said that top bureaucrats in the civil aviation ministry and at Air India had been asked to present a report on how a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) could be offered to about 15,000 of Air India’s 40,000 staffers, including contractors.
“Nothing has been finalised but our aim is to make the strategic sale as simple as we can,” said a second top official in New Delhi, involved in the airline’s daily operations, adding that any fresh investments would be put on hold.
Previous attempts to offload the airline have failed mainly because of the scale and complexity of problems at Air India, as well as its influential unions.
If Modi can pull the privatisation off, it will buttress his credentials as a reformer brave enough to wade into some of the country’s most intractable problems.
UNITED FRONT
In its heyday, Air India boasted of a talent pool that newly founded airlines dipped into.
The government will, however, need to convince seven trade unions to accept the plan to make the company attractive to potential buyers, including buyouts and other efforts to slash costs. Their initial response was not positive.
“The government will propose a VRS scheme and we will throw their proposal in the dustbin,” said J.B. Kadian, leader of a union that represents 8,000 non-technical staff of Air India.
Aviation
Boeing’s Commitment to Safety: Praising Employee Amidst Quality Assurance Challenges
In a notable move signaling Boeing’s commitment to transparency and safety, the executive overseeing the company’s 787 program praised an employee for their integrity in reporting an issue.
According to an internal memo obtained by Business insider, the commendation came after a worker observed an “irregularity” during a required test of the wing-to-body join and promptly notified management.
Scott Stocker, vice president and general manager of the Boeing 787 program and the South Carolina site leader, expressed gratitude to the employee for their vigilance. He emphasized the importance of every team member speaking up when they notice something amiss, highlighting the critical role of accountability within the organization.
Upon investigation, it was discovered that several employees had neglected to conduct required tests, despite falsely recording the work as completed. Boeing assured that its engineers determined the misconduct did not pose an immediate safety risk to flight operations. However, the company is taking swift and serious corrective action with the individuals involved.
While no planes have been grounded as a result of the lapse, performing tests out of order will inevitably affect the pace of deliveries. Despite this setback, Boeing assured that the issue wouldn’t compromise the safety of the in-service fleet.
Stocker’s commendation of the employee underscores Boeing’s acknowledgment of the importance of ethical conduct and adherence to protocols. At a time when the company is facing heightened scrutiny due to previous quality assurance lapses, this demonstration of accountability serves as a reminder of Boeing’s ongoing efforts to prioritize safety and integrity.
Aviation
Air India Express 300 crew go on ‘mass sick leave’, more than 80 flights cancelled
Air India Express, a prominent airline in both international and domestic routes, found itself in a whirlwind of disruptions as over 80 flights were abruptly cancelled due to an unexpected occurrence.
More than 300 crew members reported being ‘sick’. The airline’s senior crew member disclosed this puzzling situation, sparking concerns and investigations from Civil Aviation authorities.
The fallout from this mass sick leave has been profound, with scores of flights cancelled across various key airports like Kochi, Calicut, and Bangalore. Passengers were left stranded or facing significant delays, amounting to approximately 15,000 individuals grappling with the repercussions of these cancellations.
While the exact reasons behind this sudden wave of sick leave remain unclear, speculations point towards discontent among the Air India Express staff. Allegations of mismanagement within the Tata Group-owned airline have surfaced, hinting at possible reasons for the crew’s protest.
The Air India Express Employees Union (AIXEU), claiming to represent a significant portion of the cabin crew, echoed sentiments of morale depletion among its members due to managerial issues. In response to the chaos, Air India Express issued a statement acknowledging the disruptions and expressing regret for the inconvenience caused to passengers.
They assured affected travelers of full refunds or rescheduling options, urging them to check the status of their flights before heading to the airport.
Social media platforms buzzed with complaints from passengers caught off guard by the sudden flight cancellations, highlighting the extent of the turmoil faced by those relying on Air India Express services.
Aviation
JetBlue & Etihad Airways Join Forces for Loyalty Partnership under Codeshare Agreement
A long-standing codeshare collaboration between JetBlue New York’s Hometown Airline® and Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has expanded to include loyalty benefits beginning on May 8, 2024.
Celebrated today at Dubai’s Arabian Travel Market was the agreement between the two airlines. As a result of the partnership, passengers travelling across the networks of both airlines will now be able to accrue and redeem points in their preferred programme while they are part of JetBlue’s TrueBlue and Etihad Airways’ Etihad Guest.
With Etihad Guest miles redeemable against a variety of experiences, including travel and lodging across the globe as well as the ability to convert miles into reward cards for retail purchases, this alliance enhances the redemption choices offered by the individual programmes.
In addition, JetBlue introduced its new TrueBlue loyalty programme last year, giving members more value than ever before with expanded Mosaic levels for the airline’s most devoted customers, Perks You Pick®, tiles to track status, and more opportunities than ever before to earn perks and status.
TrueBlue recognises that every traveller is unique, thus it allows users to select the benefits that are most important to them and accrue points for every flight, purchase, drive, or shop.
The customer reward programmes expand on the nearly ten-year cooperation between the two airlines, which provides connectivity between New York and Boston to over 70 locations worldwide on Etihad and over 40 destinations in the Americas on JetBlue.
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