Air India flight from Dubai to Calicut overruns the runway, breaks into two.. no confirmed information on casualties

[coffee_rules]

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Those who survived should owe their life to the pilot , Captain Deepak Sathe  who sacrificed his life saving the plane.

 

Received this message on WhatsApp 

 

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Its hard to believe that Capt Deepak Sathe is no more.
He was pilot of Air India Express carrying passengers from Dubai in 'Vande Bharat Mission', which skidded off the runway at Kozhikode International Airport yesterday night. 

What is learnt is as follows:
Landing gears didn't work.
Ex IAF pilot made three rounds of airport to empty the fuel which saved plane from catching fire. That’s why there was no smoke seen coming from the crashed aircraft. 
He turned off the engine right before the crash. 
He belly landed after the 3rd iteration.
The right wing was ruptured.
The Pilot martyred but saved life of 180 co-passengers.

Capt. Deepak was an experienced aerial operator with 36 years of flying experience. A passout of NDA, topper in the 58th course and an awardee of 'Sword of Honour', Dipak served Indian Air Force for 21 years before joining as a Commercial Pilot with Air India in 2005.

He survived in air crash in early nineties when he was in Airforce. He was hospitalised for 6 months for multiple skull injuries and nobody thought that he will fly again. But his strong will power and love for flying made him clear the test again. It was a miracle. 

He leaves behind his wife and  two sons, both pass outs of IIT Mumbai. He is a son of Brigadier Vasant Sathe who stays in Nagpur along with his wife. His brother, Capt Vikas, was also an Armyman who laid his life while serving in Jammu region.

A soldier lays his life to save the lives of his countrymen.

Om Shanti

Edited August 8, 2020 by coffee_rules

[Real McCoy]

1 hour ago, coffee_rules said:

Those who survived should owe their life to the pilot , Captain Deepak Sathe  who sacrificed his life saving the plane.

 

Received this message on WhatsApp 

 

Om Shanti

Hats off to captain My condolences to his family. Rest in peace Deepak Sathe

[Real McCoy]

@Straight Drive We had a great opportunity to delve into the international air travel market a couple of decades ago. We didn't have the vision to capitalize on it and Emirates and other middle eastern companies took hold of it and we have to rely on them to transport our own people to US/Europe. Considering how much travel Indians especially NRIs do, we could have captured market share in air transport business. At that point we were looking good enough economically to invest in such areas. Its a failure of the govt at that time and maybe private companies that didn't dream big.

[G_B_]

Aviation is actually the safest mode of travel in india. Last accident was in 2010 when 158 perished. At max this mishap should have 30 fatalities. 188 dead over a decade when aviation exploded in India even for Air India is very safe.

 

Also the median age of air india planes is 11 years which is not ww2 planes...

 

The issue was the airport and weather conditions. Air india not to blame in this.

[G_B_]

It should also be noted that most major global crashes are happening with the boeing 737 (which was the plane in question here)

 

Though i do think the plane is not to blame for this, its not a good position to be in for boeing. If the black box reveals landing gear issues its a manufacturing fault.

 

 

[G_B_]

4 hours ago, Straight Drive said:

Couple of years back they had 76% stake sale in some businesses of Air India. The other restriction put were not liked and yhere was no bidder in first attempt to sell.

 

Another attempt to sell has thus been put forward this year with 100%  stake sale. Other businesses of Air India can also be merged now. Government has also decided to give up the management to attract bidders this time. Some debt will also be absorbed by the government.  Some resources regarding restrictions are also relaxed.

 

Indigo has been India's best performing airlines operating cost, revenue and profit wise. However, the COVID factor has impacted them so much that they are giving LOP and laying off their existing employees. Not sure if they will be able to bid for Air India given the financial crisis it has faced in this quarter due to COVID. The international routes of air India are tempting though.

 

The employees were opposing privatisation because the facility for free travel to there family members has already been reduced or perhaps totally scrapped. The work culture of private firm may also be a huge change for them. They are not getting salaries in time with delay by as much as month or more. The best way to get out of this message for government and employees as well as improvisation of service to customers is privatisation. Hope the bidders like the second attempt to sell off the airlines. Works for everyone and saves people tax being used to keep the airline floating in air.

 

 

Indigo operates a fully airbus fleet, would need overhaul of training of pilots spares etc. Plus they dont have the international route network.

 

Vistara operate long haul and have a boeing fleet. They would be interested in air india slots in Europe and North America. Both share for eg the 787.

 

Mostly it will be Vistara.

[Straight Drive]

11 hours ago, G_B_ said:

 

 

Indigo operates a fully airbus fleet, would need overhaul of training of pilots spares etc. Plus they dont have the international route network.

 

Vistara operate long haul and have a boeing fleet. They would be interested in air india slots in Europe and North America. Both share for eg the 787.

 

Mostly it will be Vistara.

As I mentioned in previous  post, the international routes of Air India are tempting, and that is why Indigo will be interested. They are the best airlines profitability wise in Indian aviation sector.  Pilots will be rebadged to the new promoter, whoever that will be so training is not at all an issue. Even if reskilling takes time, it can be done in a time frame. The new promoter will still be keen to rebadge some of the existing key resources like pilots, be it Indigo or Vistara. Thus i don't foresee any challenge as far as skills of pilots are concerned.

 

Indigo has the best balance sheet in Indian aviation sector. Perhaps because they know how to run the avaition business better than competitors. So feel they would be in better position to take over the debt ridden Air India.

 

But Vistara can also bid as they too have experience of handling the avaition business. Infact from what I recall Tata Sons probably had meeting or were very keen to participate. This was few months back most probably just before lockdown. Tata Son holdings can also pump in investment, but the question is which management is better equipped to run the business. That is where I think Indigo will be a better move in long term. The objective is to turn a failed business into a successful one but not just pumping money.

 

Indigo have managed the aviation business well than Vistara. That is a key difference imo which suits the ultimate objective of turning losses into profit.

 

 

Edited August 9, 2020 by Straight Drive

[Straight Drive]

13 hours ago, Real McCoy said:

@Straight Drive We had a great opportunity to delve into the international air travel market a couple of decades ago. We didn't have the vision to capitalize on it and Emirates and other middle eastern companies took hold of it and we have to rely on them to transport our own people to US/Europe. Considering how much travel Indians especially NRIs do, we could have captured market share in air transport business. At that point we were looking good enough economically to invest in such areas. Its a failure of the govt at that time and maybe private companies that didn't dream big.

Patel has received fair share of criticism for the way he handled the aviation sector policies and the bids for routes.

 

In our country flight tickets are still capped. I can understand government has capped rates for some medicines, but why the need for capping flight tickets rates for so long. Atleast in principle give them some margin to expand. Or do they want the private entities to turn into Air India as well. The contagion effect is a result of this.The loss making airlines then don't pay the fuel bill of past 3 to 6 months to fuel sellers. Which in turn affects some other dependent company negatively. This needs to be stopped. Government should give airlines a chance to actually do a business.

 

Live and Let Live...Earn and let earn.

Edited August 9, 2020 by Straight Drive

[G_B_]

1 hour ago, Straight Drive said:

As I mentioned in previous  post, the international routes of Air India are tempting, and that is why Indigo will be interested. They are the best airlines profitability wise in Indian aviation sector.  Pilots will be rebadged to the new promoter, whoever that will be so training is not at all an issue. Even if reskilling takes time, it can be done in a time frame. The new promoter will still be keen to rebadge some of the existing key resources like pilots, be it Indigo or Vistara. Thus i don't foresee any challenge as far as skills of pilots are concerned.

 

Indigo has the best balance sheet in Indian aviation sector. Perhaps because they know how to run the avaition business better than competitors. So feel they would be in better position to take over the debt ridden Air India.

 

But Vistara can also bid as they too have experience of handling the avaition business. Infact from what I recall Tata Sons probably had meeting or were very keen to participate. This was few months back most probably just before lockdown. Tata Son holdings can also pump in investment, but the question is which management is better equipped to run the business. That is where I think Indigo will be a better move in long term. The objective is to turn a failed business into a successful one but not just pumping money.

 

Indigo have managed the aviation business well than Vistara. That is a key difference imo which suits the ultimate objective of turning losses into profit.

 

 

I feel Indigo long term expansion plan involves use of the a321lr and a321 xlr. These two birds will take them to any part of Asia and Europe and are narrow body which means they dont have to spend much on pilot training, maintaince, staff etc.

 

 

Crucially they will be able to target smaller not so expensive airports which avoids the need for expensive slots. So i just dont see Air india as a good fit in terms of business model.

 

[Straight Drive]

3 hours ago, G_B_ said:

I feel Indigo long term expansion plan involves use of the a321lr and a321 xlr. These two birds will take them to any part of Asia and Europe and are narrow body which means they dont have to spend much on pilot training, maintaince, staff etc.

 

 

Crucially they will be able to target smaller not so expensive airports which avoids the need for expensive slots. So i just dont see Air india as a good fit in terms of business model.

 

Ineterglobe Enterprises which is the parent company also owns IBIS group of hotels in India,Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.Totally they own 17 hotels with more than 2500 rooms. It has properties in Melbourne, Paris, Budapest,Vienna, Amsterdam, Bucharest, Prague. All tourist destinations. Within India IBIS hotels are in cities like Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai , Bangalore, Hyderabad, Goa.  The presence is so strong in hospitality sector. 

 

The group also manages commercial real estates at prime locations. 

 

They also have a travel commerce platform Travelport in  B2B category providing ticket generation, insurance, flight information. This platform was availed by Air India few years back to migrate its data and being sole distribution supplier for Air India. So the ties with Air India existed previously in some capacity.  However, they  then moved to Amadues Sabre for GDS. 

 

Interglobe are also in global car renting facility, and managing solutions for other companies. They also provide in flight and on ground operations services to partner airlines. 

 

Indigos joint venture CSTPL airlines provides training for pilots.

 

Bangladesh appointed them as sales partner for their cargo support for Biman Bangladesh Airlines. 

 

They are just not into helping passenger move from one place to another but as total solution pro user for the traveler as well as other airlines.

 

Indigo also provides training for Aircraft technical maintenance to career aspirants. 

 

Operating around 1000 flights per day and 100+ flights from the major metros within India. They also added Turkey to their destination couple of years back.

 

The smaller cities in North East are catered by smaller seat aircrafts for cost efficient. I think the ATR narrow airplane which you mentioned must be used for these smaller cities in North East and also to some low demand cities like Tuticorin or Gaya.

 

Indigo is also over 10 years in this sector now. 

 

The domestic air traffic is growing at 13%. Considering this and the number of airports that will be newly opened, India will need a powerful and capable airlines to handle the growing flight operations and to provide quality service to customers. 

 

Considering the need to scale up the airlines industry I feel the government must look at the aviation sector with sonenee urgency and relaxations. After all a quick connectivity to different parts within India and overseas will be the crucial aspect of Atmanirbhar Bharat and also to bolster the econic growth. Being one of the top 10 nation global Air Market, we must continue to give special reforms to Indian aviation sector.

 

When we connect the dots with various business offerings of Interglobe Enterprises like Flights, IBIS hotels, Training to Pilots, Operational service capabilities in air and on ground, returns to business, expertise in the specialised sector, Indigo stands out imo. Imagine the opportunity sales Indigo can create due to its presence in hospitality verticals by using packages.So much of synergy. It fits well imo in the holistic picture. The need of a proven specialist stands in it favorites if it comes into bidding.

 

Bit away from topic- recently govt. Announced plans to induct private operators to runs some trains. That is also a major decision having a positive impact. The rail, road and air transport needs attention and quick development for improving economy and making India a much stronger nation.

 

Edited August 9, 2020 by Straight Drive