air india news

Boeing layoffs

2011-01-22T00:29:00.000-08:00

Boeing layoffs

Boeing Co. has announced plans to lay off an estimated 1100 employees in 2011, primarily from its Long Beach, California plant.

The cuts come after the commercial airplane company slashed 4,500 jobs in 2009.

Boeing has experienced reduced demand for the C-17 Globemaster III, a cargo jet produced in the Long Beach facility. An estimated 900 workers in that plant will lose their jobs sometime this year.

Bob Ciesla, program manager for Boeing, stated that the reduction of jobs at Boeing “will allow us to keep the production line open beyond 2012, protect jobs and give potential customers more time to finalize their airlift requirements.”

Employees at the St. Louis, Macon, Georgia, as well as Mesa, Arizona facilities will also be affected.

Boeing has said that it will try to move laid-off employees to other locations.

Delivery of Boeing planes for AI in 2011

2010-11-06T08:51:00.000-07:00

Delivery of Boeing planes for AI in 2011

6 Nov 2010, 1753 hrs IST, AGENCIES
With reports of further delays in delivery of Boeing's next generation 787 aircraft, Air India on Saturday (November 6) said the deliveries of these planes for it are slated for June next year. “To the best of our knowledge, the delivery will begin from June 2011,” a spokesman for the national carrier said in New Delhi. Air India plans to buy 27 B-787 'Dreamliners' from Boeing which are to be delivered in phases. He said the delivery date was pushed back to June 2011 from April next year, as early as in August this year.

A report in the latest issue of the premier US-based journal Aviation Week and Space Technology said, "Air India now is believed to be scheduled to receive its first B-787 in September or October 2011 instead of April, a delay of around five months." The B-787s, made of composite materials to make it lighter and more fuel-efficient than other aircraft, are to be deployed by Air India on long-haul sectors like India-US and India-Australia for non-stop operations.

According to the report, the delay in deliveries would affect the first few customers like Korean Air and Japan Airlines, apart from Air India. Though Boeing has maintained that it would deliver the first B-787 to All Nippon Airways (ANA) toward the middle of the first quarter 2011, industry sources claimed that may no longer be possible, the report said. Official sources recently said that Boeing and Air India were working out the compensation package for the delay in deliveries of the Dreamliner.

While B-787-8 is designed to carry between 210250 passengers on routes non-stop up to 8,200 nautical miles or 15,200 km, its next version B-787-9 will fly 250290 passengers up to 8,500 nautical miles or 15,750 kms. Development of this plane has been plagued by delays because of "numerous production and supplier issues" and is already about three years behind schedule, the Aviation Week report added.

Air Indians Gagan Narang and Deepak Sharma do the nation proud

2010-11-06T08:49:00.001-07:00

Air Indians Gagan Narang and Deepak Sharma do the nation proud

Oct. 6, 2010
India’s champion rifle shooter Gagan Narang and upcoming pistol shooter Deepak Sharma have brought laurels to the National Carrier Air India with their brilliant performances at the ongoing XIX Commonwealth Games. While Gagan won two Gold Medals in the 10 M Air Rifle (individual and pairs), Deepak won a Silver Medal in the 50 M Air Pistol (pairs).

Gagan, current World No 2 and World Record holder in 10 M Air Rifle also created a new Commonwealth Games record by aggregating 703.6 points in the final of the 10 M Air Rifle individual event today, which is also his personal best. His shot a perfect 600/600 in the qualifying round, for the second time in his sporting career. Gagan, an Olympian, who has participated at the Athens and Bejing Olympics, has over 40 medals in prestigious international events including 4 Golds at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games. He was honoured with the Arjuna Award in 2005.

Deepak Sharma has 3 medals from major international competitions and 31 medals from national level shooting championships. Ms Annu Raj Singh is another Air India employee to have qualified (10 metre air pistol- pairs and individual) for the Commonwealth Games. Eleven Air India sportspersons are participating in the ongoing XIX Commonwealth Games at New Delhi.

Air India has promoted sports and sports persons in the country for the last four decades. Today the airline has some of the best sportspersons on its rolls who have won laurels for the country in their respective disciplines like hockey, cricket, chess, shooting, carrom, kabaddi, badminton and swimming.