PICTURES: BA to debut new business-class seat on A350s

British Airways has unveiled a new business-class seat which will be introduced on its Airbus A350s and rolled out across the rest of its long-haul fleet. The IAG carrier says its new Club Suite flat-bed seats will be configured in a 1-2-1 layout and feature wi-fi capability, 18.5in in-flight entertainment screens and PC/USB power points. […]

source http://www.ncairways.co/aviation/pictures-ba-to-debut-new-business-class-seat-on-a350s/

Jet Airways to miss interest payment, grounds four more jets

Jet Airways has delayed paying interest on debentures coming due on 19 March, and grounded four more jets over defaults on lease rentals as the carrier’s cash crunch show little sign of abating. The carrier disclosed that its interest payments “will be delayed owing to temporary liquidity constraints” in a stock exchange statement. It did […]

source http://www.ncairways.co/aviation/jet-airways-to-miss-interest-payment-grounds-four-more-jets/

Mayawati tells Congress not to spread confusion, no coalition with it

BSP supremo Mayawati has attacked the Congress in a big way. Mayawati said that there is no coalition with Congress; it should not spread confusion. We are alone capable of fighting the BJP.

source http://www.ncairways.co/india-news/cofuse/

Ethiopian 737 flight data shows ‘similarities’ to Lion Air crash

Data retrieved from the recently crashed Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 shows “clear similarities” with the October 2018 crash of a Lion Air aircraft, according to Ethiopian transport minister Dagmawit Moges. The similarities were noted after an initial review of information retrieved from the crashed Ethiopian aircraft’s flight data recorder, Moges said on 17 […]

source http://www.ncairways.co/aviation/ethiopian-737-flight-data-shows-similarities-to-lion-air-crash/

‘Ethiopia Airlines crash had ‘clear similarity’ with Lion Air crash’: Official

Ethiopia Transport Minister Dagmawit Moges said the black box from the Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed 157 people last week is in good condition.

Moges told reporters on Sunday evening that data so far shows there is a “clear similarity” between that crash and an earlier one in Indonesia that involved the same type of plane.

Officials said victims hailed from 35 different countries were killed when the Nairobi-bound plane crashed shortly after takeoff.

The United States and other countries grounded Boeing 737 Max 8 planes after they were involved in both the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash and an earlier Lion Air crash in Indonesia.

The U.S.-based Boeing faces the challenge of proving the jets are safe to fly amid suspicions that faulty sensors and software contributed to the two crashes in less than six months.

News

Thousands mourned the Ethiopian plane crash victims on Sunday, accompanying 17 empty caskets draped in the national flag through the streets of the capital as some victims’ relatives fainted and fell to the ground.

The service came one day after officials began delivering bags of earth to family members of the victims. Because of the lengthy identification process, they likely won’t receive remains of loved ones anytime soon.

Family members confirmed they were given a 1 kilogram (2.2 pound) sack of scorched earth taken from the crash site. Many relatives already have gathered at the rural, dusty crash site outside Ethiopia’s capital.

Elias Bilew said he had worked with one of the victims, Sintayehu Shafi, for the past eight years.

“He was such a good person,” Bilew said. “He doesn’t deserve this. He was the pillar for his whole family.”

French investigators said Saturday night that they had successfully downloaded the cockpit recorder data and had transferred it to the Ethiopian investigation team without listening to the audio files. Work on the flight data recorder resumed Sunday but no additional details were given.

Experts from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and the plane’s manufacturer Boeing are among those involved in the investigation.

News

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has said satellite-based tracking data shows that the movements of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 were similar to those of Lion Air Flight 610, which crashed off Indonesia in October, killing 189 people. Both involved Boeing 737 Max 8 planes.

The planes in both crashes flew with erratic altitude changes that could indicate the pilots struggled to control the aircraft. Shortly after their takeoffs, both crews tried to return to the airports but crashed.

The United States and many other countries have now grounded the Max 8s as the U.S.-based company faces the challenge of proving the jets are safe to fly amid suspicions that faulty sensors and software contributed to the two crashes that killed hundreds in less than six months.

Also Read: Infighting hampers analysis of Ethiopian Airlines flight recorders

Also Read: Ethiopian Airlines black boxes showed ‘clear similarities’

SBI not able to finalise resolution plan for Jet Airways after 75 days

Since 31st December 2018, Jet Airways has not paid its debt. Its lenders are trying the debt-equity turnaround plan for the last 75 days or so. Interest, as usual, kept on increasing every day, Jet could not earn adequately as lessors repossessed their planes. The situation has moved from bad to worse.

Amidst increasing differences between Jet Airways and Etihad Airways, the only party that can bailout the beleaguered airline, over the equity cap that its founder chairman Naresh Goyal can hold after his forced exit, bankers on Friday exuded confidence of reaching a resolution plan as early as next week.

After agreeing to cap his shareholding at 22 per cent for perpetuity and completely exit the airline’s management as a precondition for a bailout that Etihad and bankers demanded, Goyal had last Friday wrote to Etihad to remove the perpetuity clause from the resolution plan and also the Gulf carrier immediately offer a lifeline of Rs 750 crore failing which the airline may get grounded.

This, according to media reports, has put off the Gulf carrier which already owns 24 per cent in the airline which has grounded 42 per cent of its 119 aircraft, most of them due to non-payment lease rentals to the aircraft lessors.

According to the draft resolution plan submitted to the lenders led by the lead lender SBI, Etihad will bring in around Rs 1,800 crore as fresh equity and increases its stake to 24.9 per cent, while Goyal will chip in with Rs 750 crore and the rest of the Rs 3,800 crore come from other investors.

Founder chairman Goyal and his family own 52 per cent in the airline now which he had agreed to pare down to 22 per cent to secure a financial bailout.

“It is a work in progress. Very soon, say by next week, we will have a solution plan in place,” a senior SBI official said here Friday.

The official said the resolution plans had started on November 1 last. “Any resolution plan for a corporate is a very complex process. Things don’t happen in a day or two or in even 15 days.

“There are various stakeholders, who have to be aligned; there are promoters and joint venture partners, so when the situation is so complex, it takes time,” SBI explained the reason for the delay.

“We are making every effort and SBI is leading that effort. We are clear on one thing: to ensure that the airline runs and not get grounded and not to stave off our accounts becoming NPAs. That’s the fundamental difference between any other NPA and Jet Airways,” he added.

Jet has a debt of over Rs 8,200 crore and needs to make repayments of up to Rs 1,700 crore by the end of March. It has already defaulted on an ECB payment earlier this week but is servicing its domestic debt.

The acute liquidity crunch has forced it to ground aircraft, shut down stations and delay salary payments to its pilots and engineers along with other senior staff. Since last July the airline has been trying to raise funds as cash crunch mounted leading to salary delays since then.

On March 8, Goyal wrote to Etihad chief executive Tony Douglas seeking an urgent funding of Rs 750 crore under an agreement signed between various stakeholders.

On 14 February, Jet Airways board approved a bank-led resolution plan whereby lenders would become the largest shareholders in the airline. Following approval from the shareholders, part of debt would be converted into 11.4 crore shares at a consideration of Re 1 apiece as per the RBI norms.

BJP and Opposition take social media by storm over Chowkidar jibes

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi began the Main Bhi Chowkidar’ social media campaign on Saturday to take the Congress’ Chowkidar Chor Hai’ jibe head-on. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday unleashed the second chapter of its Main Bhi Chowkidar’ campaign with Prime Minister Narendra Modi leading the campaign as he changed his Twitter handle to […]

source http://www.ncairways.co/india-news/opposition-jibes/