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Seats for 144, passengers fume as airline books 194

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KOLKATA: An unexplained glitch in Air India‘s reservation system that triggered angry protests among passengers in Kolkata this weekend has the airline’s commercial team on tenterhooks.

On Saturday, 194 passengers reported for Air India flight AI 731 from Kolkata to Guwahati when the Airbus A 319 aircraft had only 144 seats. Some airlines do resort to overbookings but never at this scale. While the 50 stranded passengers fumed and fretted, AI officials were flummoxed how it had happened.

“It was an unprecedented situation. We do have 2-3% overbookings but on Saturday, it was 31% on the Kolkata-Guwahati flight. The passengers were justifiably furious and we didn’t have any explanation to offer. An error seems to have occurred in the reservation system. Instead of displaying that the flight was full once 144 tickets had been sold, it continued to accept reservations. Thus, 194 passengers turned up for the flight,” an AI official said.

AI would have had to use an Airbus A 330 aircraft or a Boeing 787 Dreamliner to carry so many passengers on a single trip. But none of the aircraft could be re-deployed to Kolkata at such short notice.

Earlier, airlines would overbook flights by 10% as no-shows or passengers failing to turn up for the flight was high. But with low-fare, non-refundable tickets being introduced, no-shows have gone down significantly. This has forced airlines to recalibrate their booking software and cap the overbooking limit at 2-3%.

Though the airline did manage to pacify the stranded passengers, accommodate them in a hotel, and then fly them in two flights: one scheduled to Guwahati on Sunday morning and the other to Bagdogra that was rescheduled to fly via Guwahati, its officials are worried about the potential damage it may cause to the airline’s image if the snag recurs.
Courtesy :times of India

Aviation

Airbus Plans Cockpit Toilet to Make Single-Pilot Operations a Reality

Airbus Plans Cockpit Toilet to Make Single-Pilot Operations a Reality

In a bold move aimed at cutting costs, Airbus is exploring the possibility of installing a potty-style toilet right behind the Captain’s seat on its A350 long-haul aircraft. According to the reports from paddleyourownkanoo.com

This proposal is part of the ongoing effort to implement Extended Minimum Crew Operations (eMCO), a concept that could revolutionize the aviation industry by reducing the number of pilots required on ultra-long-haul flights.

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Currently, on long flights, two pilots stay in the cockpit while the others rest in a separate compartment. However, under eMCO, one pilot could be alone in the cockpit for up to three hours while the other sleeps. The goal is to reduce crew costs and improve airline efficiency, as fewer pilots would be needed for these flights.

But this proposal has raised concerns from pilot unions, who worry about safety and the challenges of single-pilot operations. To address the issue of bathroom breaks, Airbus suggests installing a radio-equipped toilet in the cockpit, allowing the pilot to use it without leaving their seat.

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If the pilot needs to use the toilet, the second pilot would have to be woken up, terminating the eMCO process temporarily.

If successful, Airbus plans to begin testing this system on its A350 aircraft as soon as 2027, with single-pilot operations possibly being introduced on freighter Airbus A320s within the next five years.

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