NEW DELHI: Seven years after the merger of erstwhile Indian Airlines and Air India was announced, the national carrier drew some criticism last week for celebrating 'Air India day' on August 27 - the day in 2007 when the merger process formally began.

The criticism was over alleged waste of a large amount of money when the airline is bleeding — a charge the management has vehemently denied. While the issue is still being debated in the media, a look at Air India's progress in the last two years shows that the airline has surely done some things right.

NEW DELHI: Air India's website, which went down two days ago after the airline offered a special fare of Rs 100, was apparently blocked by a few sites in India and abroad for a considerable time.

An unprecedented 80,000 hits a minute were recorded from some sites which blocked bookings by genuine passengers, the national carrier's Information Technology (IT) team found during internal investigations.

Air India is offering tickets at Rs 100 (excluding fuel surcharge, taxes and fees) for five days beginning Wednesday, to celebrate its merger anniversary with Indian Airlines.

Tickets will be sold only through the Air India website from August 27-31, for travel during August 27-September 30.

Air India is offering tickets at Rs 100 (excluding fuel surcharge, taxes and fees) for five days beginning Wednesday to celebrate the merger of Air India with Indian Airlines.

Tickets will be sold only through Air India website from August 27-31 and for travel during August 27-September 30.

Government-owned and loss-making Air India (AI) has terminated from service 194 cabin crew and 11 pilots over the past year, primarily for unauthorised absence.

It now has 3,400 cabin crew, including 800 hired on contract. A senior executive said, “Improving the performance parameters is priority. It is important to instil a sense of discipline. The airline and its passengers should not suffer due to delays or absenteeism on the part of cockpit and cabin crew.”

An Air India flight from Delhi to Ahmedabad carrying 103 passengers was forced to land in Jaipur after a suspected problem in its landing gear. The Airbus 321, which left Delhi at 6 AM, landed in Jaipur after a technical problem was suspected in its landing gear, officials said. Another aircraft was sent from Delhi take the passengers on their onward journey and the flight reached Ahmedabad at 9 AM.

A decade after low-cost carriers led India's air travel boom, full-service airlines are gearing up for a battle for premium passengers that only the deep-pocketed are likely to win.

Flag carrier Air India, which has only offered premium travel, will face more competition from second-largest airline Jet Airways, which on Monday said it would ditch its budget unit and focus on the full-service market amid mounting losses.

Passengers on board an Air India flight that arrived here from New Delhi on Wednesday had a close shave when one of the plane's tyres burst while it was taxiing on the tarmac, an airport official said.

"The incident took place this evening when the Air India flight from Delhi was taxiing after having made a safe landing," said Jamil Khaliq, in-charge of the Allahabad airport.

Mumbai's towering billboards, which hawk everything from the latest Bollywood movies to soda, block out more than sunlight. They're also a physical hurdle preventing Air India Ltd. from reaching its potential on what should be one of its most lucrative routes.

The height of the hoardings near India's financial hub means the Boeing Co 777-300ER jets the carrier uses for non-stop flights to Newark, New Jersey, near New York City, must fly 51 fewer passengers, or 15 per cent below capacity, in order to clear these.

Air India is planning to tweak its daily service to Australia, to cut losses.

In August 2013, it had launched a daily service connecting Delhi with Sydney and Melbourne in a single trip. Now, the airline would operate separate flights to Sydney and Melbourne, with reduced frequency.

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