SILVER & PLATINUM PASS BY AIR INDIA

The salient features of the Travel Pass are as under:

The Pass is being offered in two variants:

  1)Silver Pass for travel in Economy class
  2)Platinum Pass for travel in Executive class

Valid for unlimited travel on the Domestic network within Ten Days from the date of commencement of Journey. Travel to be completed on or before 25^th September, 2011.

Fare:
Silver Pass:      INR 30,000(all inclusive)
Platinum Pass: INR 50,000 (all inclusive)

Validity for sale: With effect from 15^th June, 2011 upto 15^th Sept. 2011.

Discounts : No discount permitted.

Upsell : If seats are not available in the required RBD up sell would be permitted as under:

Silver Pass : Rs. 500 per coupon for every next higher RBD in Economy class.

Platinum Pass : Rs. 1000 per coupon for the next higher RBD.

Sale Restriction : Both Silver and Platinum Pass will be available for sale within India only.

Combination: Not combinable with any other Fare type or discount.

Documentation: Photo Identity card to be carried for verification while traveling.

Revalidation & Refund

Penalty for Revalidation/Re-issuance “NIL”

No refund is permissible after the passenger has commenced the first leg of the Journey.

A Refund fee of Rs. 1500 and Rs.2500 for Silver and Platinum Pass respectively applicable for totally un-utilized Pass presented for refund.

SpiceJet plane hits parked IndiGo

An IndiGo Airbus 320 was damaged after a SpiceJet Boeing 737 hit its fuselage while taxiing out from the parking bay of the Indira Gandhi International Airport early Thursday.
There were no passengers on board both aircraft at the time of the incident. A probe has been ordered to pin-point responsibility.
The incident took place around 2 am when a SpiceJet aircraft, while taxiing out from Bay 15, struck the IndiGo plane parked at Bay 1.
The right side of the IndiGo aircraft’s fuselage was hit, resulting in a structural damage of the flight recorder access door area, a spokesperson for IndiGo said.
SpiceJet’s Boeing 737, which was being taken out for maintenance, also suffered damage. Sources said the aircraft’s winglet was damaged.
A spokesperson for SpiceJet said investigations were on in the incident in which “minor damage was caused to the aircraft”.

Pre-Monsoon Heating & Monsoon Rainfall

This is the report from Indian Met Department (IMD) showing Suppressed Surface Heating over northwestern parts of the Country and the ensuing Monsoon Rainfall. The full report can be found on the IMD website. Click on the Title to view Report.

Jet may phase out JetLite, bring operations under Jet Konnect

New Delhi: Jet Airways plans to bring all its low-fare operations under the Jet Konnect brand and phase out the JetLite brand completely.
The country’s largest airline by passengers carried believes that this move will simplify operations and remove the current confusion over two similar low-fare brands — Jet Konnect and JetLite.
Though no timeline is available for this transition, sources in the aviation industry and some officials of Jet confirmed that internal discussions have been held on phasing out JetLite.
These talks have gained momentum after the recent Bombay High Court order, which ended a messy legal battle between Jet and Sahara India Commercial Corporation.
The battle has its origins in Jet’s April 2007 purchase of Sahara Airlines — which operated Air Sahara — and later rebranding it to JetLite.
This court order will now enable Jet to carry out several business operations, including developing land, selling and leasing back of planes and rebranding JetLite, all of which had come under a cloud because of the litigation.
09/05/11 Sindhu Bhattacharya/Daily News & Analysis

Jet, Indigo, Kingfisher and others worried on Air India fare cut

Mumbai: National carrier Air India's move to lower fares by up to 20% on certain routes since January this year to prop up its falling market share is making other airlines see red as they face the prospect of taking a hit on their profits.

Airlines are worried that the national carrier's dash for market share has come at a time when oil prices have risen to record highs due to the Libyan crisis, raising their operational costs as much as 50% in some cases.

" Air India is offering all their seats at prices that are lying at the bottom of the yield bucket. They are reducing fares by as much as.`1,000 and competing with us by dropping fares, especially on the Delhi-Mumbai routes," said the CEO of a low-cost airline who did not wish to be identified. "A drop of .`100 in yield will bleed airlines by .`3 crore."

Despite having the largest fleet, Air India was recently overtaken by low-cost airline IndiGo in terms of market share. The national carrier has a market share of 15%. It has long lagged behind Jet and Kingfisher , the two large sector airlines. Air India's move has had some impact in January-March 2011 quarter, say analysts.

"Air India has dropped fares in the last quarter by 20%-30%. This forced other airlines to follow suit. With fuel costs up by more than 40%, this drop in fares by Air India has become a game changer for the fourth quarter of the last financial year," said Kapil Kaul , CEO, (Indian sub-continent & Middle East), CAPA.

Air India defends the strategy by saying that its market share has gone up and it has become competitive.

Eyewitnesses in Bhutan say they saw chopper trying to land

Official sources in the Arunachal Pradesh Government have said they are attempting to get in touch with some witnesses in Bhutan who have claimed seeing a chopper descending in their area, and then taking off in a north easterly direction.
The statement came as the search operation for missing Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu and four others was called off on Sunday due to inclement weather and receding light. The Government of India is trying to get in touch with the Bhutanese locals.
Meanwhile, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has released images of the area where its two satellites were used to try to find the missing chopper.
The chief minister's principal secretary, Yeshi Tsering, has also revealed that he received a phone call from a person who told him that the chief minister was safe in Bhutan. He suggested that it could have been Khandu. But this is yet to be corroborated and confirmed.
Pawan Hans has defended itself by saying that the missing helicopter was four-months old and in perfect condition technically.
In a statement, Pawan Hans said VIPs had used the chopper previously without experiencing any problem.
The defence of the chopper came as Chief Minister Khandu's adviser Kiren Rijiju said there was need to take a strong view on the maintenance capabilities of Pawan Hans.
He said the maintenance of choppers by the organization was erratic. He also said that as of now there was no official confirmation about the chopper landing in Bhutan.
The missing Pawan Hans AS350 B-3 helicopter that took off from Tawang at 9.50 a.m. on Saturday lost communication with the ground after it flew past the Sela Pass along the Chinese border about 20 to 25 minutes later. The helicopter was scheduled to land in Itanagar at 11.30 a.m. on Saturday.
On Saturday, several media reports quoted Arunachal Pradesh Governor General (retired) J J Singh and Chief Secretary Bam as saying that the helicopter had landed safely somewhere in eastern Bhutan adjoining Tawang district and that the same helicopter was flying back to Guwahati with the chief minister on board.
Bhutan, however, later denied that any Indian helicopter had landed in its territory, but said a search operation was launched following request from New Delhi.
Apart from Khandu, the people on board included crew members Captain J S Babbar and Captain K S Malick, Khandu's security officer Yeshi Choddak and Yeshi Lamu, sister of Tawang legislator Tsewang Dhondup.

No trace of Arunachal CM, ISRO roped in to trace chopper

New Delhi: Government on Saturday night alerted the Department of Space and ISRO for help in locating the whereabouts of the missing helicopter carrying Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Dorjee Khandu and four others.

Union Home Secretary G K Pillai said that Indian satellites have made two passes over the probable area from where the Pawan Hans helicopter went missing 20 minutes after takeoff from Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh but has not picked up any signals.

He said Pawan Hans helicopter carries a a location transponder that can communicate at 406 MHz frequency in the event of any emergency or it could also be manually operated.

The chopper was last in communication with the base when it was overflying Sela Pass, 20 minutes after taking off from Tawang, and all communication was lost after that.

There was confusion in the afternoon with claims made by Governor Gen (retd) J J Singh first and then by the chief minister's office and defence spokesperson that the chief minister had landed safely in a place called Daporijo in Upper Subansiri district. The CM's office said the helicopter had landed in a place in Bhutan.

The five on board included crew members Captain J S Babbar and Captain K S Malick, Khandu's security officer Yeshi Choddak and Yeshi Lamu, sister of Tawang MLA Tsewang Dhondup.

Who's flying you? - Case of Garima Passi

TIMES NOW has uncovered a fresh scam in the pilot scam. 24 year old Garima Passi is allowed to fly SpiceJet despite an objection from a training school. The American training school recommended cancelling Passi's training. Sabeena Airline training Centre observed Passi had 'fear of aircrafts'.

TIMES NOW accessed the training school's report. Eliza Wade, ACI, Sabeena Training Centre, said Passi made a hard landing and caused damage and that the pilot lacks confidence as she has fear of aircrafts. Eliza said the pilot lacks basic aircraft control and she does not complete the gap between knowing and applying.

Even as two people have been arrested for holding fake pilot licences, sources within the Crime Branch investigating the case have told TIMES NOW that a scam of this scale could not have been possible without the connivance of DGCA officials.

TIMES NOW asks:

1. Is SpiceJet aware of her training records as per Sabeena Training Academy's letters?

2. How can someone who's training was suspended be cleared by the Uttrakhand training school?

3. Is it a coincidence that her father is Director of Air Safety Northern Command?

4. How is no one in the ministry aware of the Garima Passi case?

2 arrested pilots paid Rs 10 lakh for forged marksheet: Police

Two pilots arrested in the Capital for obtaining flying licence by allegedly forging marksheets are believed to have paid touts Rs 10-12 lakh each, Police said, adding investigations were underway to know the identity of these middlemen.

Police arrested Parminder Kaur Gulati (38) of Indigo and Jitender Kishen Verma (46) of Air India in the last one week and are hot on the trail of two more pilots who are absconding in the wake of the fake pilot scare.

The investigating agency is now on the look out for other pilots who allegedly forged marksheets to secure a pilots license.

FAKE Pilots Case

New Delhi: Pilots with fake and forged licences could be flying commercial aircraft in India. A CNN-IBN investigation has found that at least 10 pilots have bribed their way through rigorous aviation tests to become commanders in some of the top airlines in India.

The case of Indigo pilot Parminder Kaur Gulati, who was arrested on Wednesday by Delhi Police for obtaining a pilot's license on alleged forged documents, is just the tip of an iceberg. The DGCA is now investigating over 1700 pilots who may have paid their way to pass the test to command a flight

The Airlines Transport Pilot Licence (ALTP) is every pilot’s dream. The ALTP makes the person the pilot-in-command and also doubles the salary.

Click to play video

New Delhi: Pilots with fake and forged licences could be flying commercial aircraft in India. A CNN-IBN investigation has found that at least 10 pilots have bribed their way through rigorous aviation tests to become commanders in some of the top airlines in India.The case of Indigo pilot Parminder Kaur Gulati, who was arrested on Wednesday by Delhi Police for obtaining a pilot's license on alleged forged documents, is just the tip of an iceberg. The DGCA is now investigating over 1700 pilots who may have paid their way to pass the test to command a flightThe Airlines Transport Pilot Licence (ALTP) is every pilot’s dream. The ALTP makes the person the pilot-in-command and also doubles the salary.

But getting the licence is not easy. The pilot has to log over 1500 flying hours and pass three tests in Air Navigation, Radio Aids and Instruments and Aviation Meteorology. They also face an interview.

Such is the rush that many pilots are willing to pay for it. The arrest of Parminder has now opened a can of worms. CNN-IBN has spoken to many pilots to reveal the shocking story of some of the pilots who could be flying you around have fake licences

Four senior pilots of Air India, Kingfisher, Jet Airways and Indigo admitted that the rates were upwards of Rs 7 lakh to pass the commander test and could go upto Rs 25 lakh. The deals are brokered by touts.

In January 2011 a pilot with one of India's leading airlines failed in his first solo test, delaying the aircraft by over two hours. Later he admitted to his senior that he had paid through his test.

Another instructor had a mid-air scare when the pilot he was evaluating admitted that he had never logged the flying hours he had filed.

Top sources in the Director General of Civil Aviation admit to the rot in the system and are working to identify corrupt officials. Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi assured of strict action if any pilot was found to have fake licence.

"If any corruption complain comes to me, I know what to do with that. Nothing has come to me so far. But that does not mean that every thing is alright," said Ravi.

Following Parminder's case the DGCA has put all 1700 new licences under scrutiny. Sources say they have zeroed in on over 10 suspicious cases from various airlines.

"(There is) some lacuna somewhere. Today I had a discussion with the Director General of DGCA, Bharat Bhusan. I told him to please find out the loopholes and plug it. Don't allow its repetition and play with human lives," said Ravi.

There is now fear of a similar scam involving Commercial Pilot Licence holders. DGCA sources say they have received a number of complaints. This is disturbing news for a sector that has been growing in leaps and bounds over the last 10 years.