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IndiGo and pilot safety regulations in India
IndiGo's failure to plan for roster changes and the stricter fatigue management rules in India hit IndiGo hard last week. The airline's operations were thrown into chaos, causing disruptions across the country. In two phases, the new regulations were first proposed at the beginning of 2024 and implemented this year. The latest date for implementation was November 1. IndiGo admitted that the disruptions were caused by a lack of planning. The Indian aviation regulator has issued a number of important rules. Weekly Pilot Rest The Indian authorities have increased the weekly rest time by 12 hours, from 36 hours to 48 hours. The government claimed that this would allow for sufficient recovery time from cumulative fatigue. The rule is still in place despite the IndiGo disaster. MAXIMUM NIGHTLANDINGS From six, the number of landings that a pilot could make between midnight and early in the morning was reduced to two. This is meant to increase safety, as alertness at this time is at its lowest. Due to the current crisis, IndiGo has been placed on hold until February 10. FLIGHT DUTY Maximum time for pilots to fly on flights that extend into the night has been set at 10 hours. According to the rules, night is between midnight and early morning. In light of the current crisis, IndiGo has been placed on hold until February 10. RETREAT AND LEAVE Airlines cannot count personal leave taken by a pilot as part of their 48-hour weekly rest period. Pilots claim that the rest period was not always added to any leave. All airlines in India are currently exempt from this rule. FATIGUE REPORTS The Indian aviation regulator now requires airlines to submit quarterly reports on fatigue and the actions taken. (Reporting and editing by Aditya K. Kalra, Alex Richardson).
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Allegiant Air's bid for US residency for foreign employees is blocked by the pilots union?
Allegiant Air’s pilots’ union is blocking Allegiant Air’s attempts to secure permanent residence for dozens foreign pilots, including those from Chile, Australia, and Singapore. This leaves their immigration status, and the company’s staffing, in limbo. The union refused to certify that pilot positions which begin at around $50,000 per year (about half of what other regional airline pilots earn) meet "prevailing wage standards" to the U.S. Department of Labor. This certification is an important bureaucratic step, and it's a requirement for pilots to apply for green cards. Teamsters Local 2118 asked Allegiant not to hire foreign pilots but to provide compensation that is industry standard and to improve scheduling in order to keep pilots from leaving to work for competitors. Allegiant, along with most U.S. carriers faced major workforce challenges after the pandemic. Low pay has been a major issue for the carrier in retaining pilots. To stabilize its staffing, the airline expanded recruitment by hiring pilots through employment-based visa programs. The union claims that the airline misrepresented their intentions to hire these pilots permanently and there is no shortage of pilots in the U.S. making it unnecessary to pursue permanent residence for the pilots. They had a difficult time finding pilots in 2023, so they hired visa pilots from Chile on H-1B1s because they verbally promised them citizenship and a greencard to come fly in America at 50,000 dollars a year. Because they are having a difficult time keeping and maintaining their pilots with such a low salary. Allegiant currently employs 62 pilots in Chile, Australia and Singapore via the H-1B1 visa program and E-3 visa program, which is about 4% or its total pilot count of 1345. Allegiant's spokesperson stated that hiring pilots via visa programs was a supplement to the company's broader workforce strategy and not a replacement of U.S.-based hires. The union refused to provide the letter required for the permanent certification application filed by the airline. The Labor Department's permanent labor certification is required for employers to hire foreigners to work in the U.S. permanently. Allegiant, in a letter sent to pilots, wrote that "due to the union not providing this information, it is possible that your green card will be delayed". Allegiant stated in a press release that "all our hiring practices are fully compliant with federal labor laws and FAA regulations as well as the collective bargaining agreement with our pilot union." Allegiant said that "all of our hiring practices fully comply with federal labor laws, FAA regulations, and the collective bargaining agreements in place with our pilot union." "My heart goes to them." Recently, they were told that they should not even leave the country. They might not be allowed to return," said Unterseher. Attrition on the Rise Allegiant pilots report that attrition has increased. Pilots are leaving due to low pay in the industry, scheduling issues, and a labor contract dating back nearly 10 years. One pilot, who requested anonymity, said that first officers at Allegiant make less in their first year than flight attendants of other major airlines and TSA agents. Allegiant has shown interest in expanding their operations. At one point, they discussed adding 1,400 new destinations. Pilots said that the lack of staffing is still a problem. "I had nowhere to go for the past 18 months. You are now seeing people leave. The pilot continued, "I've got at least five or six of my friends in the small group that I am part of that are leaving." (Doyinsola Oladipo in New York; Editing by David Gregorio)
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Russian drones and missiles strike railway hub near Ukraine’s capital, Railway says
Ukrzaliznytsia, the Ukrainian state railway company, said that a railway hub near Kyiv had been attacked by a Russian drone and a missile attack. The depot and rail carriages were damaged. Fastiv was not reported as a casualty in the attack that occurred overnight. In recent weeks, Russia has intensified attacks on Ukraine's infrastructure and energy sector. Power stations and rail hubs have been targeted. Ukrzaliznytsia announced on Telegram that it had to cancel a number of suburban trains in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv and near the capital. The emergency services did not provide any further details, but reported that there was a fire on the station's and depot's territory. The report cited a possible attack on infrastructures in the Chernihiv area. UKRAINIAN MINISTRY TEENS ON POWER AND HEAT FACILITIES The attack targeted power and heat generation plants in Chernihiv and Zaporizhzhia regions, Lviv and Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine's Ministry for Development of Communities and Territories said. Telegram reported that 9500 customers in southern Odesa were still without heat, and 34,000 others without water. The ministry reported that "port facilities (in Odesa), have also been attacked. Part of the infrastructure was de-energized, and operators switched to generators for backup power." The Ukrainian Energy Ministry said that the attack caused blackouts in eight areas overnight. Emergency repair work has already begun where safety permits. The energy companies are working hard to restore power as soon as possible for all their customers," the ministry stated on Telegram messenger. POLAND CRAMBLED JETTS, BUT THE AIRSPACE WAS UNViolated Private broadcaster RMF FM said that sirens were also heard early Saturday morning in Lubartow, a town in eastern Poland's Lublin region. RMF reported local mayor Krzysztof Pasnik saying that the warning had been activated because of the situation in Ukraine. The Operational Command of the Armed Forces stated that there was no violation of airspace. (Reporting and editing by William Mallard, Bernadettebaum and Alan Charlish; Additional reporting by Pavel Polityuk in Warsaw)
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India lowers airline fares after IndiGo crisis leaves hundreds of passengers stranded on fifth day
India cut airline fares Saturday after hundreds of passengers gathered at the airports of Bengaluru, Mumbai and Pune following the cancellation of 385 IndiGo flight on the fifth day in a crisis that has affected the country's largest airline. IndiGo has cancelled thousands of flights this week, causing chaos in the air travel industry across India. The government responded by announcing special relief to the airline and additional trains that would help clear up the backlog. IndiGo's cancellations caused a huge increase in fares on popular routes. The government announced that it would cap fares in order to maintain price discipline. The government did not provide details about the cap. The Indian government stated that it will continue to monitor the level of fares through real-time data, and in coordination with airlines. The last time fares were capped was during the COVID-19 Pandemic of 2020. Flight cancellations are IndiGo's biggest crisis yet. The airline, which is 20 years old, has always prided itself on its punctuality and attracted passengers with low cost fares. "WAITING FOR MY Luggage" IndiGo admitted that it did not plan well ahead of the November 1 deadline for implementing stricter rules regarding night flying and pilots' weekly rest, which ultimately led to scheduling issues this week. More than 1,000 IndiGo flight cancellations were made on Friday. IndiGo said that after the government announced its exemptions from the rules, it would be able to resume normal operations between December 10 and 15. In a Saturday post on X, the Delhi airport said that flight operations were gradually returning but some IndiGo flights continued to be affected. According to airport sources, IndiGo cancelled 124 flight in Bengaluru, 109 flights in Mumbai, and 86 in New Delhi. Photographers at the scene reported that hundreds of passengers gathered on Saturday outside the airports in Bengaluru, Mumbai, and some were unaware of the cancellations. Satish Konde was supposed to take a connecting flight to Nagpur, a western city in India. He had checked in but was told later that the flight was cancelled. "I'm waiting for my luggage," he said. Air India, Akasa and other major Indian airlines have not been forced to cancel flights because of the new rules. Reporting by Francis Mascarenhas and Priyanshu Sing; Additional reporting by Arpan Chaturvedi and Abhijith G; Writing by Aditya KALA; Editing and Sam Holmes by Tom Hogue and Tom Holmes
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India's air travel chaos has eased, but IndiGo still leaves hundreds of people stranded
The crowds at Indian airports dwindled on Saturday, but hundreds of passengers gathered outside Bengaluru airport and Mumbai airports. 385 IndiGo flight cancellations were announced in the fifth day during a crisis that has affected the country's largest airline. IndiGo has cancelled thousands of flights this week, causing a major disruption in air travel across India. The government announced special relief to the carrier to clear the backlog and began operating some trains. The airline has been in crisis for 20 years. It was once known as a reliable carrier that offered low-cost tickets and prided itself on its on-time performance. IndiGo admitted that it did not plan well ahead of the November 1 deadline for implementing stricter rules regarding night flying and pilots' weekly rest. This led to issues with roster planning during this past week. More than 1,000 IndiGo flight were cancelled on Friday. Delhi Airport posted on X that flight operations were gradually returning, but IndiGo flights continued to be affected. According to airport sources, IndiGo cancelled 124 flights in Bengaluru on Saturday. IndiGo said that it would return to normal between December 10 and 15. Photographers on the scene said that hundreds of passengers were still gathered at Bengaluru and Mumbai airports Saturday. Some were unaware of their cancellations. Satish Konde was supposed to take a connecting flight from Mumbai to Nagpur, a western city, and was checked-in, but later told that the flight was cancelled. At the airport, he said: "I'm waiting for my bags to be returned." The new rules have not forced other major Indian airlines to cancel flights, such as Air India or Akasa. (Aditi Shah, Abhijith, Arpan, Dhwani and Aditi Pandya contributed to the report; Aditya Kalra wrote it; Sam Holmes edited it)
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FT reports that Revolut will move its headquarters to Canary Wharf, where Deutsche Bank will be based.
The Financial Times reported that Germany's Deutsche Bank chose to lease about 250,000 square foot of office space at London's Canary Wharf in a building with the Revolut logo. Reports citing sources familiar with the situation said that the German bank would take up about twice as much room in the YY Building on South Colonnade than the Revolut. Outside of business hours, Deutsche Bank and Canary Wharf Group have not responded to any requests for comments. Canary Wharf Group - which manages the larger financial district, and is owned by QIA, Canada's Brookfield and Canada's QIA - was hard hit by the pandemic induced drop in office demand. Now, the area is enjoying a recovery as more companies encourage their staff to return to work. Canary Wharf Group announced on Friday that Visa will relocate its European headquarters into the district. JPMorgan Chase announced last week a plan to construct a tower at Canary Wharf. The company said that the project would create 7,800 new jobs and contribute $9.9 billion pounds to the local economy over the next six years, including construction costs. ($1 = 0.7502 pound) (Reporting and editing by Sam Holmes, William Mallard, and Angela Christy from Bengaluru)
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Spirit Airlines cancels plans to furlough 365 pilots
Spirit Airlines announced on Friday that it had scrapped its plans to lay off up to 365 of its pilots during the first quarter of next year. It also scaled back downgrading of captains as part of a restructuring effort after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August. The ultra-low cost carrier did not give a reason for its cancellation, but the pilots union stated that management had revised their staffing model following discussions about attrition assumptions. A spokesperson for the company said, "We will no longer be implementing the furlough previously announced." It added that the number of captains downgraded to first officers has decreased from 170 to 25. Spirit has approximately 2,400 pilots. Spirit filed for Chapter 11 a second-time earlier this year as it struggled to deal with its dwindling reserves of cash and mounting losses. The airline announced that it would be laying off its pilots and attendants as well as shrinking its fleet to cut costs. The airline announced the latest furloughs in October. Air Line Pilots Association says assumptions behind carrier's announcement in October are no longer correct and attrition model has become outdated. The association responded to questions by email that "the business case for large-scale furloughs did not align with the current data." Spirit has not responded to our request for comment on the attrition rates in staffing. As part of its restructuring, the airline had previously laid off about 600 pilots. In November, the pilots' association announced that it had agreed with Spirit Airlines to cut the hourly wages of its pilots 8%. It also reduced its retirement contributions by half. (Reporting from Doyinsola Oladipo in New York and Edmund Klamann).
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CANADA-CRUDE-Discount on Western Canada Select widens
On Friday, the discount between West Texas Intermediate and Western Canada Select futures (the North American benchmark) widened. WCS for Hardisty, Alberta delivery in January settled at $12.95 per barrel below U.S. benchmark WTI according to brokerage CalRock. This compares to $12.85 last Thursday. The WCS discount on increased Canadian oil production has recently widened after spending most of the year in historically tight levels. This is largely due to the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion, which has provided Canadian oil producers with additional export capacity. Enbridge's Mainline network, which transports Canadian crude oil to U.S. market, is allocated -- a term used in the industry for when demand exceeds pipeline capacity -- for December. The Trans Mountain pipeline is the only Canadian oil export pipeline that has direct access to overseas market. * Oil prices rose by nearly 1% on Friday, reaching a new two-week high, on the back of increased expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve would cut interest rates in the coming week. This could increase economic growth and fuel demand as well as geopolitical uncertainties which could limit supply from Russia and Venezuela. (Reporting and editing by Daniel Wallis in Calgary)
IAEA: Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Plant temporarily lost electricity overnight
The International Atomic Energy Agency reported on Saturday that Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant temporarily lost all of its off-site electricity overnight. It cited Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi.
Since March 2022 when Russian forces seized much of the southeast Ukraine, this nuclear plant - Europe's biggest - has been under Russian authority. The plant is currently not producing electricity, but it relies on external power in order to keep the material cool and prevent a meltdown.
IAEA reported that the plant had been reconnected after a 30-minute outage to a power line of 330 kilovolts (kV).
The Russian-installed plant management said that the 750 kV power line, which was also previously disconnected, was now back in operation. Stable power supply was restored, they added.
The management stated that radiation levels were normal.
IAEA said that widespread military activities over night affected Ukraine's power grid, and caused operating nuclear power plants to reduce their output. Reporting by Gnaneshwarrajan and Yazhini MV in Bengaluru, Editing by Aidan Lewis & Bernadettebaum
(source: Reuters)