Aviation News

Aeromedical Survey For DGCA Pilots

2008-08-06T05:58:00.001-07:00

An Aeromedical Survey is been conducted for the pilots of Indian Commercial Airlines by AFCME. Join in this survey at this link www.survey-pilots.co.nr and give in your suggestions.

Jet Airways plane carrying Sharad Pawar returns safely after scare

2008-07-26T21:19:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: A major air accident was averted when a Jet Airways flight with Union Minister Sharad Pawar on board returned to Delhi airport safely after it was found that a rear door was not locked properly. Taking a serious note of last evening's incident, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) suspended at least two cabin crew members of the Delhi-Mumbai flight (9 W362), official sources said here today. When the Boeing-737 reached the height of about 5,000 metres after taking off at 1725 hours, the cabin crew on the rear of the plane informed the pilot that they could hear "a hissing sound and see the sky through one corner of the door". The Commander of the plane immediately reported emergency to the Delhi air traffic control, which asked them to burn fuel in the air in order to make a safe landing. The aircraft then climbed about 8,000 metres and circled above to burn fuel before making a safe landing an hour after take off. The DGCA preliminary inquiry showed that the cabin crew had not shut the door properly "before reporting door closed" to the pilot, sources said.

Free Aeromedical Consultancy

2008-07-21T08:04:00.000-07:00

All in one resource for all your civil Aviation medical needs.

Aviation sector will need 6,000 more pilots in 5 years

2008-07-19T21:53:00.000-07:00

New Delhi: India’s fast-growing aviation industry, which is facing a shortage of pilots, will need an estimated 6,000 more certified captains in the next five years.
At present, the airline industry faces a shortage of around 1,000 qualified pilots, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel told Rajya Sabha in a written reply on 29 April.
“With the present growth of the aviation industry, it has been estimated that in the next five years, 5,000 additional pilots would be required for scheduled operations and 1,000 pilots for non-scheduled and private operations,” he said.
Patel said the Centre has taken various steps, including increasing the retirement age of pilots to 65 years and setting up of a training institute in Maharashtra, to reduce the demand-supply gap.
Other steps include upgradation and modernization of infrastructure at the India Gandhi Rashtriya Udaan Akademi to enhance its training capacity from 40 to 100 pilots and reduce the training period.
He said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has not invited foreign pilots to work in the sector.
To another question, Patel said the Government has approved the Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) prepared by the DGCA for carriage of physically challenged persons in flights in consultation with Airports Authority of India, Federation of Indian Airlines and NGOs.
“The Government has since approved the CAR which will be formally issued by the DGCA,” he said.

As airfares soar, tourist inflow nosedives

2008-07-18T22:20:00.000-07:00

NEW DELHI: Hotel rooms that you could not get for love or money till a few months back are now available for song. The increase in price of aviation turbine fuel and economic slowdown has spelt doom for the hospitality and tourism sectors, with hotel room tariff crashing almost 50% in certain cases. Several city hotels have applied summer rates nearly after two years as this is the first time since 2006 that they are witnessing occupancy as low as 50% in June and July. Since pricing is demand-based, the severe room shortage meant they need not have resorted to lower tariff in past two years. "Corporates have cut travel of their executives which has affected our occupancy. Although the tariff is in the range of Rs 5,000-Rs 8,000 in five-stars, they are still pretty affordable. But with airfares being where they are, personal leisure travel is becoming out of reach of the middle class," said an leading hotelier. Hotel consultants HVS International-India's MD Manav Thadani added that the trend is likely to continue in the next 12 months. Thadani said, "There is a slight decline in occupancy levels all over India now and it will remain so in the next 12 months keeping in view the somewhat negative turn the economy has taken. The decline in room rents will be around 10%." Almost all hotels are feeling the pinch. Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India VP Rajendra Kumar said, "Rooms that were in the range of Rs 12,000-Rs 20,000 are now going for Rs 6,000-Rs 9,000. The demand — and rates — could pick up once travel season begins in September." Only top five-star deluxe properties like Oberoi and Imperial have not witnessed a reduction in rates. Oberoi's spokesperson Ketaki Narain said, "Our average room rates haven't fallen. In June 2007, the figure was Rs 9,302 while this June, it was Rs 11,083." The crisis sparked by the rising price of crude oil seems to have come a full circle for the travel industry, as it has affected every sector. In the good old days of low air fares, high hotel tariff in Delhi meant companies started sending their executives on a day trip to Delhi as staying overnight was more expensive than flying again to the Capital next morning. Then airfares started shooting and have now reached such levels that companies are cutting travel costs with a heavy hand. This, in turn, has led to a sharp drop in room tariff. Sushil Wadhwa, MD and CEO of Platinum Incentives and Events Ltd that organises conventions, meetings and events for corporates, said, "Companies are cutting down on spending on travel. There is a clear cut message that executives should travel only when necessary and make do with low cost options like video teleconferencing. People who have the facility to travel business class have been asked to take economy and group conventions and meetings have been hit by about 40%. The individual business traveller has also cut short his/her travel." Blaming the hike in ATF, Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) president Vijay Thakur said that long haul destinations like India had suffered resulting in a 10-15% dip in arrivals. "This has caused a slashing of room rents in the five-star category. Delhi has shortage of rooms and we have felt the dent acutely in July. But we hope that the peak season is not impacted as much," he said.