Air India pilots report sick, several flights cancelled (India)

Report from Times of India,

NEW DELHI: Flight operations of Air India were severely affected on Saturday after its pilot reported sick as part of their 'work to rule' agitation against the airline management's failure to pay their salary.

Eight flights to Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Leh, Bangalore, Bagdogra, Amritsar and Kolkata were cancelled after 12 pilots reported sick this morning.

"We have clubbed the early morning flight to the above destinations with the flights operating later in the day," an Air India official said.

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Protesting non-payment of their salary and allowances, a section of Air India pilots had on Friday decided to go on " no-pay-no-work" agitation from midnight last night.

The pilots held a meeting in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai and decided to go on the agitation. 

source: Times of India

Kingfisher mulls job cuts 2012, longer work-hours (India)

New Delhi: 

 According to Zee News Report's, in a major cost-cutting exercise, private sector air-carrier Kingfisher Airlines is believed to be considering about 2,000 job cuts and longer working hours for its staff, among various options.
   
While e-mailed queries sent to Kingfisher Airlines in this regard remained unanswered, industry sources said the debt-ridden carrier could also abstain from any major hiring activities at least till August 2012.
   
Sources said the carrier is looking at about 2,000 job reductions by July and the exercise could affect various positions at mid-manager level in its corporate offices and also at cabin crew and attendant levels, among others.

Image Credit: panoramio.com

   
At the same time, the airline, a part of Vijay Mallya-led UB group, could also consider increasing the working hours of staff being retained.
   
It would pay higher incentives and allowances to the staff working longer hours, but the move could still help it cut employee expenses drastically as costs could be double for hiring fresh employees, sources said.
   
However, the exact financial implications of these proposed initiatives could not be ascertained immediately.
   
The airline is already said to be witnessing some attrition and recently it was reported that some of its air hostesses have left to join state-run Air India.
   
Kingfisher's total employee cost dipped marginally by two percent in the last fiscal 2010-11, to Rs 676 crore.
   
Its total headcount stood at 7,317 as on March 31, 2011, down from an average of 7,681 employees in the previous year ending March 2010. The airline's employees per aircraft ratio had declined in line with its fleet rationalization programmes.

Source: Zee News

Cash-strapped Air India decides to sale, leaseback Dreamliners (India)

Times of India's News Report: With the first of the 27 Boeing 787 Dreamliners for Air India expected to arrive next month, the cash-strapped national carrier has decided to sale and leaseback seven of them and has started looking for bridge financing worth $230 million. 

While the first of these much-delayed planes would be delivered by the American manufacturer in January, the second one would come in March, the third in April and two each in May and June, official sources said. 

The Air India Board has already decided to go for sale of these aircraft to a lessor and immediate leaseback under an operating lease of 12 years with an option to extend the period, the sources said.

Image Credit: funonthenet.in

source: Times of India

Delhi Fogged Out; Flight, Trains Hit (India)

According to related posts, Delhiites woke up to a foggy morning on Monday which has led to cancellation/delay of number of flights and trains.

The mercury hovered around 5 degree Celsius while sun was nowhere to be seen even as the day progressed prompting motorists to resort to the use of fog lights to negotiate through streets in the capital during the chilly morning. Visibility dropped below 50 metres and to almost zero in Palam area while it was around 200 metres at Safdurjung, the Meteorological Department said.

Image Credit: news.in.msn.com

Around 40 trains that arrive early morning are running late, while atleast 4 trains have been cancelled. Flight operations at the Indira Gandhi International Airport were also disrupted with eights flights on the delayed list.  As per the Met department, fog would persist for the next 48 hours with visibility below-100m visibility. However, the haze would ensure that the temperature will go up a bit, the Met said.

The mercury has shown a downward trend in the past couple of days, with both the maximum and minimum dropping. The coldest day of the season so far was December 16 when minimum dropped to 4.7 degree Celsius and maximum to 21.7 degrees. In December last year, the minimum had come down to 5.2 degrees Celsius on the 22nd of the month. In the past decade, the lowest minimum for the month was recorded on December 12, 2005 when the mercury recorded 3.3 degrees Celsius while the highest maximum was 28.4 degrees on December 15, 2003.

The record for the lowest minimum for the month of December is 1.1 degree Celsius recorded on the 26th of the month in 1945 and the highest maximum was 29.3 degrees on third of the month in 1987. Cold wave has intensified in other parts of North India as well with over 60 deaths being reported from Uttar Pradesh. People in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana and Uttarakhand are also fighting the chill.

Fog had descended over large parts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Bangladesh on December 6 and now it has spread to the northern areas. As per reports, this year’s spell may turn out to the longest spell of fog over the Indo-Gangetic plains in December since 1998, when it lasted from December 7 to 28.

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Sendong forced the cancellation of 14 domestic flights yesterday (Manila - Philippines)

According to ABS-CBN News, bad weather caused by tropical storm “Sendong” forced the cancellation of 14 domestic flights at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Saturday.

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                                         The affected flights are the following:

• PR291 Mnl – Dumaguete
• PR292 Dumaguete – Mnl
• 5J781 Mnl – Ozamis
• 5J782 Ozamis – Mnl
• 5J625 Mnl – Dumaguete
• 5J626 Dumaguete – Mnl
• 5J711 Mnl – Catarman
• 5J712 Catarman –Mnl
• 2P029 Mnl – Catarman
• 2P030 Catarman – Mnl
• Z2340 Mnl – Cagayan0330 
• Z2341 Cagayan – Mnl
• Z2230 MNL – Virac
• Z2231 Virac – MNL

Weather bureau Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said Sendong has slightly weakened as it moves towards Palawan.

The storm is expected to exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility by Sunday evening.

 If you have any suggestions/ concerns then please leave your comments at the below comment box.

source: ABS-CBN News