Estimated reading time for this article: 3 – 5 minutes
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) ordered the removal of Jet Airways (India) Ltd’s chief of flight safety Vishesh Oberoi for failing to perform his duty as the airline’s top safety manager, a first in recent times.
The regulator took the action against Jet Airways for allowing a trainee pilot to land a packed flight on 14 October in Mumbai, violating safety norms. DGCA had summoned Jet officials for an explanation on Monday.
The airline was also found to have violated rules, including not informing the regulator about the incident, Mint reported on 13 February.
Jet Airways chief executive Nikos Kardasis, along with other officials, had an hour-long meeting with Bharat Bhushan, the director general of civil aviation, on Monday, said a government official who declined to be named.
“The head of flight safety has been ordered to be removed immediately for failing to perform his duties,” the official said. A second government official confirmed the move and added that the airline has to inform the regulator on the appointment of a new chief of flight safety.
A Jet spokesperson declined to respond to an email. Phone calls and text messages seeking comment remained unanswered.
DGCA approves the chief of flight safety for each airline. The official is directly responsible to the regulator and is required to make regular reports about matters of safety. An airline is expected to voluntarily report safety issues to the regulator, including minor snags.
DGCA came to know of the incident through a complaint on 5 February.
“About four months back, Jet Airways captain Sheikh Ahmed was operating a flight into Mumbai along with F/O (flight officer) Khajuria (co-pilot). There was a supernumerary pilot on board. I understand that the captain asked the first officer to vacate his seat and he permitted the supernumerary pilot to occupy the right seat for the landing,” the complaint said. “This is a very serious violation and endangers the lives of all on board. I understand Khajuria gave a written complaint. There appears to be an intervention from someone to soften the action against the captain, who was merely suspended for three months and is now back to flying as a captain.”
The complaint asked if “the airline inform(ed) the DGCA of this serious violation? If they did, what action did DGCA take and was this recorded in the list of violations in the safety audit conducted? If they did not report this, what action will DGCA take against the pilot and the airline?”
The licence of the commander has been suspended, according to DGCA.
It, however, remains to be seen if his flying license will be cancelled too as DGCA has done in past cases, said Mohan Ranganathan, an air safety expert and member of the government-appointed Civil Aviation Safety Advisory Council. “DGCA should not stop with action against the flight safety head. A clear message has to go to all airlines that such violations will not be tolerated. A strong action against the airline is also warranted for hiding this incident,” he said.
Now, this is a big deal. It’s not common to see the DGCA take such drastic action and order the removal of anyone…
However, allowing a supernumerary pilot to land an aircraft is very dangerous. A supernumerary pilot is a pilot who has just finished training school. You can think of this incident as a captain allowed a trainee pilot to land the aircraft, and then the chief of safety covered it up. Serious business…
While some people might pass this off as a “one-time incident,” it raises serious flags about the safety culture at Jet Airways. Firstly, allowing a trainee pilot to land an aircraft is incredibly irresponsible for a captain. But more importantly, the coverup than ensued is what is really worrying. An airline which covers up safety issues to avoid getting in trouble is not an airline which I would be confident in the safety practices of. If they are ok with covering up this incident, where will they stop? Falsified maintenance logs? Flying over maximum weights? Cutting corners of training procedures? Nobody knows…
It is important to keep in mind that I still fully convinced that the airlines in India are safe to fly. Vinay Bhaskara wrote a great essay on the topic about a month ago, and I wholeheartedly agree with it. However, it this truly is a disturbing incident…
Posted in 
Tags: 
Estimated reading time for this article: 2 minutes or less
Source: Lion Air
Lion Air, an Indonesian airline, has firmed an order for 230 737 aircraft, worth $22.4 billion at list prices, along with 150 options. The order, which was first announced last November, is the largest commercial aircraft order for Boeing in history, both for order value and the number of airplanes.
Breaking down the order Lion Air has ordered 201 737 MAXs. The MAX is Boeing’s new re-engined variant of the Boeing 737NG that is currently in development. It is Boeing’s answer to the Airbus A320neo. This large order of 737MAXs makes Lion Air the launch customer for the Boeing 737 MAX-9.
It is highly unlikely that Lion Air will operate all the aircraft at the same time. Considering that their current fleet is only of 66 aircraft, adding another 230 aircraft would be an unsustainable amount of expansion. Since Lion Air is an LCC, it is more likely to use the later orders to replace the earlier orders, keeping average fleet age low. This will mean lower operating and maintenance costs for the low-cost carrier.
Estimated reading time for this article: 2 minutes or less
After weeks and weeks of bad news for Kingfisher, some good news has finally arrived. The IATA announced today that Kingfisher Airlines has been reinstated into its clearing house. This news comes a little over a week after Kingfisher’s membership was suspended.
Kingfisher’s financial woes have been well documented on the blog, so I won’t go into detail about it.. However, this temporary suspension has had serious consequences for Kingfisher. Its entry to oneworld was put on hold because of this suspension – being a member in good standing of the IATA Clearing House is a contractually required prerequisite to alliance membership. Even after being reinstated, Kingfisher’s entry will be pushed back for months, if it happens at all.
Kingfisher also had trouble with bilateral interline agreements due to the IATA Clearing House issue. Cathay Pacific, Korean Air, and Dragonair all terminated their bilateral interline agreements, leaving passengers stranded and leaving Kingfisher in a bad position. Kingfisher got a lot of bad press for these issues in the Indian media as well. Cathay Pacific’s termination in particular is a massive blow to Kingfisher since Cathay will be a major alliance partner of Kingfisher once (if) they join oneworld.
Hopefully this good news is a sign of Kingfisher turning around and becoming profitable. I don’t have my hopes up though…
Estimated reading time for this article: 2 minutes or less
JetBlue may be a New York City airline, but it also has a major hub at Boston Logan International Airport. In an attempt to strengthen branding in New England, JetBlue is the official airline partner of the Boston Red Sox.
JetBlue Red Sox Livery; Source: JetBlue
Today, they unveiled a special livery on N605JB, an A320 aircraft. The new livery is designed to “have their (the Red Sox’) colors soaring the skies and runways,” according to airline officials. The plane is the first in the country to have a Major League Baseball livery. Many other aircraft have been painted with liveries celebrating teams from other sports however.
The aircraft was painted in New Mexico, and was ferried to Boston Logan overnight so that the livery could be kept secret. The plane will go to Fort Meyers, Florida, for its first flight later today.
JetBlue has been very supportive of the Red Sox since becoming the team’s official airline in 2008. In addition to this livery, they will be opening a new spring training facility, JetBlue Park, later this month.