Praful Patel, aviation chiefs may talk reforms today

Mumbai/New Delhi: Civil aviation minister Praful Patel is likely to meet airline and airport chiefs on Monday to discuss issues including a new ground handling policy and airport modernization.
Also on the agenda will be speeding up the integration of Air India with the erstwhile Indian Airlines under the National Aviation Co. of India Ltd, or Nacil. Arvind Jadhav, an Indian Administrative Service officer, was recently appointed as Nacil’s chairman and managing director to pilot the merger.
The ground handling policy becomes effective on 1 July. The policy mandates that airlines outsource ground handling at the airports to private operators selected for the job.
Its implementation has already been delayed.
Under the new policy, only Air India, the airport operator and a third private operator will be allowed to provide ground handling services from July.
A person close to the development who did not want to be named, said the tenders for modernizing Udaipur and Amritsar airports would be floated as early as July as a part of the ambitious programme of modernizing 35 non-metro airports.
In April 2008, the ministry of civil aviation short-listed companies, including Larsen and Toubro Ltd, Tata group and GMR Infrastructure Ltd to develop the vast land banks at these airports.
The bidders’ list was scrapped because of protests by airport employees who were against giving the additional mandate of developing terminal building to private parties.
Another executive with a private company that was short-listed in the first selection, said it had been told that tenders are likely to be floated around July. The executive didn’t want to be named.
01/06/09 P.R. Sanjai and Tarun Shukla/Livemint

Airline safety: India likely to seek more time from US

New Delhi: The civil aviation ministry is expected to ask the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for more time to strengthen safety and oversight standards in Indian airports, after the US regulator raised concerns about the level of compliance with global standards in the country. A team from the FAA is expected to visit India in June for another inspection of the country’s airport facilities, but Indian officials said they would request the Americans to delay the visit by a month.
The Indian civil aviation secretary, M Madhavan Nambiar, and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) head Nasim Zaidi, are in any case expected to brief the US regulator about the measures taken by India to upgrade security and safety standards.
“We would request them to defer their visit and extend it to July as a team of top officials from India is expected to meet them in a week or two,” said a senior government official, who wished not to be named. The official added that all requirements asked by the FAA cannot be met overnight.
The FAA had earlier reviewed India’s compliance with global aviation safety standards and had pointed out several loopholes. Besides questioning flight safety standards, it had also expressed serious concerns over the manpower shortage in key functions such as safety and inspection.
01/06/09 Economic Times

DGCA borrows airlines' inspectors

Bangalore: Airlines have come to the rescue of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) by providing it with staff for its flight inspection directorate (FID) as the Federation of Aviation Administration's (FAA) inspection date for the government body's safety oversight systems nears.
The FAA team is expected to review the DGCA's safety oversight system in July to gauge whether it meets the minimum standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). Since the directorate does not have much time to fill up the 15 vacancies in the FID, it has pulled in flight inspectors from airlines till the time it recruits its own staff.
Nasim Zaidi, director-general of civil aviation, told DNA Money the DGCA has appointed 14 flight inspectors from different scheduled airline operators, pending regular appointment of its own inspectors.
"It would have taken us a long time to hire our own flight inspectors, so we have gone for the secondment system (where trained staff from outside is appointed). This is an interim measure, where the flight inspectors (from airlines) will be working for us full time till March 31, 2010," the DGCA chief said.
A senior executive of SpiceJet also confirmed the situation, saying even his airline's flight inspectors have been approved by the DGCA to work in FID.
"Yes, airlines are taking responsibility of training and surveillance in DGCA. I do not have complete information, but I know that a couple of our people have been earmarked for the DGCA functions," he said.
It is important for the DGCA to pass muster with the FAA.
01/06/09 Praveena Sharma/Daily News & Analysis

Alarm bells over runway move

Today is supposed to be a momentous day of sorts for the Mumbai airport. For the first time, the airport's cross-runways can be used simultaneously 24 hours a day, provided conditions like visibility, manpower and so on are fulfilled.
However, on Monday, the Director General of Civil Aviation's (DGCA) air safety team will be in Mumbai investigating the near-miss incident between an Air India plane and a Jet Airways aircraft that took place during cross-runway operations on Sunday.
Till Monday, the cross-runways at Mumbai could be used simultaneously only from 5.30 am to 9.30 am and 3 pm to 7 pm. The decision to have the cross-runways operational 24/7 was taken recently after an aviation ministry panel met with airlines.
So from now on, if visibility is over 3,000 metres and Air Traffic Control (ATC) has enough personnel, both runways can be used simultaneously throughout the day. This is expected to bring down circling time over the airport and taxiing time before departure.
Simultaneous use of cross runways is done in many airports the world over, but the question-especially after Sunday's incident-is: how safe is it at Mumbai airport?
M G Junghare, general manager, Mumbai airport, who heads the ATC unit, said that when only a single runway is used, 30 flights can be handled in an hour. Cross runways increase the capacity to 32. Is it worth the risk to operate both runways 24/7 when the handling capacity only rises by two-or at the most three to four-flights an hour?
Capt R S Otaal, general secretary of Indian Commercial Pilots Association, said, "The monsoon, coupled with fatigued pilots, would spell double trouble in 24/7 cross-runway operations. We do not follow scientifically backed rest rules like they do in other countries.''
01/06/09 Manju V/Times of India

India Orders Mumbai Airport Probe

New Delhi: India's aviation regulator said Sunday it has begun an inquiry into aborted takeoffs of planes of flag carrier Air India and Jet Airways (India) Ltd. earlier in the day at Mumbai's international airport as the aircraft could have collided as they were rolling on the two separate but diagonal runways.
"The Jet plane was given takeoff clearance at runway 14 and Air India was asked to line up on runway 27," Naseem Ahmad Zaidi, director general of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, or DGCA, told Dow Jones Newswires.
"Jet began takeoff and somehow the Air India also started rolling at the same time. However, the tower noticed and asked the Air India plane to stop," Mr. Zaidi said, adding that the Jet Airways pilot also aborted takeoff when he heard the tower's instructions to the Air India pilot.
"According to preliminary information, the Air India pilot had not been told to takeoff," Mr. Zaidi said.
The Jet aircraft had already passed the crossing point of the two diagonal runways and the two aircraft "were never near each other," Mr. Zaidi said. "There seems to have been some misunderstanding, and the pilots have been called in for an inquiry."
An Air India spokesman denied media reports that the incident was a near miss. Jet Airways said its pilot aborted takeoff as a precautionary measure.
01/06/09 Nitin Luthra/Wall Street Journal, USA

Is your pilot fit to fly?

Mumbai: The next time you fly, remember that the efficiency of your pilot is as much of a mystery to you as it is to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Grappling with an alarming shortage of manpower, the aviation authority is unable to track the license validity of all pilots, their medical fitness details and flight duty timings all crucial aspects of safe piloting with absolute accuracy.
DGCA officials revealed almost all spot-checks conducted by them threw up cases of violations of flight duty timing limitations (FDTL) or pilot fitness norms.
The situation became more grim in July 2007 after pilots refused to accept a new DGCA civil aviation requirement (CAR) that gave them more rest than stipulated in the previous FDTL rule. Though the new rule took into account the Circadian Rhythms (the sleep/wake cycle), the pilots moved the court and got a stay order, thus, reverting to the original rule.
But now with experts, airlines and pilots rooting for a modern system, this could soon change. Airlines now plan to migrate from the present manual system to an improvised, automated system. If their proposal goes through, pilots flying in India will have to swipe cards containing all the essential details before embarking on a flight.
Members of the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA), comprising Air India pilots, are also backing the modernisation.
Upon swiping, the reader will generate an approval slip, which will be essential to board the aircraft.
The card will then be swiped after the flight against a reader installed inside the aircraft, which will provide actual flight time details. The card will automatically deduct the flight duration plus 45 minutes for before and 15 minutes for after the flight, as per the FDTL rules.
01/06/09 Aditya Anand/MiD Day

Work on Gadag airstrip begins

Gadag: The work on the much-awaited airstrip in Gadag will finally commence shorty as the land required for the purpose has been identified.
DC Subodh Yadav has said that 250-acre land, which is suitable for the airstrip, has been identified at Nagasamundra village, about 9 km from the district headquarters, off Gadag-Ron state highway.
Initially, four places were identified before sending a proposal to the Airport Authority of India (AAI) to pick one of them. AAI technical adviser and Karnataka Housing Board engineer conducted a survey of these lands and selected the one at Nagasamundra.
31/05/09 Times of India

Domestic carriers fly into worry zone

Mumbai: Praful Patel, assuming charge at the civil aviation ministry on June 1, has his task cut out. The minister, in his second innings, will be overseeing an industry that’s staring at a cumulative loss of Rs 30,000 crore per year, largely contributed by the three full-service carriers — Air India, Jet Airways and Kingfisher.
According to the Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation (CAPA), a Sydney-based sector researcher, the combined debt of the three could reach Rs 45,000 crore by the end of this fiscal. While Indian aviation industry accounts for 17% of global losses, it only accounts for 2% of global traffic. How did the trio fly into this air pocket?
Analysts point their fingers at the reckless expansions that Kingfisher and Jet undertook in both, the domestic and international sectors, without any real demand. The roller coaster ride of the aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices didn’t help things. Some analysts even say that the egos of the promoters, too, played a part in this aviation drama.
With the economy on a roll, growing at 9% plus rates in the past few years, Jet and Kingfisher had set their standards a bit too high: they wouldn’t consider themselves as national players, if they didn’t have more than a dozen flight services per day between Delhi and Mumbai. Later, Kingfisher’s Vijay Mallya and Jet’s Naresh Goyal struck a chord of friendship, but the alliance, struck for reducing excess capacity last October, is yet to take off, said an analyst with a brokerage firm on the conditions of anonymity.
Analysts are not expecting any silver lining in the quarterly results of listed airline entities — Kingfisher and SpiceJet, a low-cost airliner. On Monday last, Jet announced a standalone net loss of Rs 402 crore for the full-year ended March 2009 compared with a net loss of Rs 253 crore in the previous year. It suffered losses mainly on the account of high fuel and other operating costs, and lower load factors resulting into lower revenues than expected. Jet has a debt of $3.1-billion.
01/06/09 Mithun Roy/Economic Times

Airline licences lapse as carriers avoid taking to skies in slowdown

New Delhi: Several start-up carriers that were given licences have not been able to begin operations, leading to the expiry or revocation of such permissions. This has put a question mark over whether they will eventually be able to take to the skies.
Of the some 10 licences given out by the civil aviation ministry over the past three years to cargo and regional carriers, just three have been able to operate, and that too a limited number of flights, according to the ministry.
The failure by the others to even start operations comes at a time of falling air passenger and cargo traffic in the country, seized by an economic slowdown. Analysts estimate national carriers made losses of around $2 billion (around Rs9,500 crore) in the fiscal year gone by.
The country’s airlines are largely divided into three categories: national carriers such as National Aviation Co. of India Ltd-run Air India and Kingfisher Airlines Ltd; cargo carriers such as Blue Dart Aviation Ltd; and the likes of Club One Air that are charter aviation operators.
In 2007, the ministry of civil aviation, buoyed by air passenger growth rates of 40%, introduced a new category for airlines to increase regional connectivity by offering licences for each of the country’s four different regions.
But almost two years after the announcement, of the several companies that were granted permissions to set up infrastructure to start regional operations, only MDLR Airlines Pvt. Ltd and Jagson Airlines Ltd—both of which already were running charter operations before the regional airlines policy—have flights in operation.
Given the delay, several of the carriers are now seeing their licences being revoked. Aviation rules mandate that if a carrier has not been able to start operations within 18 months of the grant of licence, the permission stands cancelled.
31/05/09 Tarun Shukla/Livemint

Plan panel recommends cargo villages around major airports

New Delhi: In line with the international practice, the Planning Commission has recommended the setting up of dedicated air cargo villages, which can boost the economy and generate employment opportunities. These cargo villages, which could be planned around major airports, will entail the establishment of an integrated cargo infrastructure, according to a recent integrated logistics report prepared by the panel. The cargo villages are designed as a one-stop solution, providing forward and backward linkages, so as to give a thrust to the cargo industry.
For the creation and development of such villages, the plan panel has recommended demarcation of land within the international airports. “Where land is not available within the airport premises, off-airport air cargo village facilities can be developed,” said the report. The commerce department or customs should frame standard guidelines, similar to inland container depots, to facilitate private participation.
01/05/09 Smita Aggarwal/Indian Express

Fire at Kingfisher office in Mumbai airport

Mumbai: A fire broke out on Monday at a Kingfisher airlinesoffice at the domestic airport here.
Fire tenders have been pressed into service to douse the blaze, a Kingfisher spokesperson said.
Kingfisher and Air India operate from terminal 1A in the city airport.
"The cause of fire is suspected to be a short circuit. We are evacuating people from the building," the spokesperson said.
01/06/09 PTI/Times of India