New Delhi:

An Akasa Air passenger has complained that the airline allegedly served expired food packets to passengers onboard a Gorakhpur-Bengaluru flight on Saturday, following which the airline said it is undertaking a detailed probe into the incident.

After the passenger took to social media to air the grievance, the airline admitted that a few passengers were “inadvertently served refreshments that did not meet our quality standards” and expressed regret over the incident.

In a statement on Sunday, the airline said it is aware of and fully acknowledges the concern raised by a passenger, who was on flight QP 1883 from Gorakhpur to Bengaluru, regarding pre-packaged refreshments served.

“Upon preliminary investigation, it was found that a few passengers were inadvertently served refreshments that did not meet our quality standards.

“We are in touch with the passenger concerned and are undertaking a detailed investigation with a view to ensuring that such incidents do not occur in the future,” the airline said, regretting the inconvenience caused to the passengers.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

NEW DELHI:

The chief executives of Air India and Akasa Air have privately exchanged barbs over the poaching of pilots, with the latter accusing its bigger rival of rule violations, provoking a reply that collusion to curb job switching can breach competition law.

The exchange, detailed in a Sept. 21 letter seen by Reuters, spotlights growing competition in India’s aviation market, as a strong rebound in air travel after the pandemic, coupled with a flurry of orders for new aircraft, led to a shortage of pilots.

The rare verbal and written confrontations between the airlines’ chief executives were detailed in the letter, sent by Campbell Wilson of Air India, which is owned by the Tata Group conglomerate, to Vinay Dube of low-cost airline Akasa.

It followed a telephone call between them and a missive Dube had sent expressing his concerns to the Tata Group.

The Sept 21 letter shows Air India pushed back after Akasa accused it of contravening government policies that mandate a notice period of six to 12 months for pilots, rules that Indian pilots’ groups are challenging in court.

Wilson told his counterpart the government rules were “not currently enforceable”, adding that Akasa itself had “previously engaged in the same actions” by poaching pilots from Tata Group’s budget carrier, Air India Express, and other airlines.

“It was a little surprising to us that Akasa now found the practice objectionable,” Wilson wrote in the letter, which Reuters is reporting for the first time.

Akasa did not comment on its communication with Air India, but said the issue of pilot exits was “now behind us … we are squarely back in growth mode”.

Air India declined to comment and the two chief executives did not respond to requests for comment.

The dispute comes at the time of a hiring spree by Air India, with its arm, Air India Express, seeking to more than triple its fleet to 170 over five years.

In recent weeks, Akasa has lost about a tenth of its 450 pilots, who left without serving out notice periods, some to join Air India Express.

In September, Akasa said it feared a shutdown and sued some pilots, as well as the aviation watchdog, for not coming to its aid, in lawsuits still pending in the courts.

In his letter, Wilson added that he had “cautioned” Dube during their telephone call that asking a competitor to collude in curbing employees’ rights to switch employers “could be construed as potentially a contravention of competition law”.

“I regret that you interpreted my courtesy of taking your call and listening to your request as assent,” he added.

The Federation of Indian Pilots has described the alleged mass resignations from Akasa as an “indication” of employee discontent, while India’s aviation watchdog has said it cannot interfere in matters related to employment contracts.

India’s newest airline, Akasa started flying in 2022, garnering a market share of 4%. It competes with IndiGo, which commands a share of 60% and Tata Group’s airlines that together have a share of 25.7%.

In the Sept 21 letter, Air India’s Wilson expressed the hope that Akasa would make investments to “attract, retain and develop” its own staff, adding that his airline looked forward to “continuing healthy competition”.

Mumbai:

An Akasa aircraft from Mumbai with 166 people onboard made an emergency landing at Varanasi airport on Friday after the airline received a bomb threat message on social media, according to an airline spokesperson.

The airline said the captain of the flight QP 1498 received an “emergency alert” from the Varanasi Air Traffic Controller and followed all required emergency procedures and landed the plane safely at Varanasi.

“At 1130 am, Akasa Air got a bomb threat message on social media. We informed the local police in Mumbai and initiated the procedure for filing an FIR,” the spokesperson said.

Subsequently, the emergency response mechanism was put in place and as part of the security protocol, the airline informed all the 16 airports from where it operates about the bomb threat and put them on alert, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said the threat was later categorised as “non-specific”.

According to the airline, there were 166 people onboard, including 159 passengers, 1 infant and 6 operating operating crew members in the Mumbai-Varanasi flight.

Varanasi Airport Director Puneet Gupta said that after a thorough security check, nothing objectionable was found and the aircraft was declared safe.

“Akasa Air flight QP 1498, flying from Mumbai to Varanasi on September 29, 2023 received an emergency alert from Air Traffic Control. The captain followed all required emergency procedures and landed safely in Varanasi,” the airline said in a statement.

The airline said that all the mandated security procedures have been completed and the aircraft has subsequently been declared safe.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

An Akasa Air passenger aircraft. File.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Newly launched budget carrier Akasa Air has moved the Delhi High Court seeking a direction to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to act against pilots who left the airline without serving their mandatory notice period.

Akasa Air, which operated its first commercial flight between Mumbai and Ahmedabad on August 7, 2022, has seen several pilots resign, affecting its operations. The airline told the High Court that it was in a “state of crisis” because of these resignations and had to cancel multiple flights every day this month.

The High Court has listed the airline’s plea for further hearing on September 22. The court also queried the DGCA as to what action it takes in case flights have to be cancelled due to pilots’ resignations.

‘Coercive action’

SNV Aviation Private Limited, which flies under the brand name Akasa Air, has sought a direction to the DGCA to “take coercive action against pilots who fail to comply with the mandatory notice period requirements, in terms of the Civil Aviation Requirement”.

“We have sought legal remedy only against a small set of pilots who abandoned their duties and left without serving their mandatory contractual notice period,” an Akasa Air statement said. “Not only is this illegal in law but also an unethical and selfish act that disrupted flights in August forcing last minute cancellations that stranded thousands of customers causing significant inconvenience to the travelling public,” it added.

(With PTI inputs)