Neha Jain: http://indianairlinesnews.blogspot.com/20

1. AI at third spot in operating flights after Jet, Kingfisher

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: Air India has operated far less number of domestic and international flights last year than its private competitors, with official figures showing that its market share has dwindled to 17.1 per cent.

Air India currently stands at the fourth position in terms of market share, after its private competitors Jet Airways, Kingfisher and IndiGo.

These figures collated by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) came against the backdrop of allegations by unions that profitable routes of Air India have been given away to the benefit of private and foreign competitors.

This has also been pointed out by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture and the Committee on Public Undertakings last year, with both observing that Air India had been put at a disadvantage against private airlines on various counts, including its declining route network.

Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi , during his meetings with the unions in Mumbai last week, had assured them that he would look into the issue and take necessary measures.

While all Indian carriers jointly operated a total of 5,25,504 flights on the domestic network during 2010, Jet Airways and its subsidiary JetLite flew 1,42,101 flights and Kingfisher Airlines operated 1,20,362 flights, leaving AI at the third spot with only 1,01,352 flights, the DGCA figures showed.

Sources pointed out that there were at least 32 "profitable routes" from which the Air India withdrew its flights since late 2009 giving a distinct advantage to competitors, both domestic and overseas. Most of the foreign routes were on the lucrative Gulf sector.

The routes on which the flights have either been withdrawn completely or temporarily were maintaining an average load factor of 80 per cent for Air India, and some even clocking 100 per cent, these sources claimed.

Soon after Air India opted out of these routes, private carriers started operating on them, they alleged.

Of these 32 routes from which the national carrier withdrew its services in over a year, Jet Airways was operating on 11 routes and Kingfisher on six, they said, adding IndiGo and SpiceJet had also launched services to these destinations.

Other airlines which are operating flights on these sectors include Emirates , Etihad, Air Arabia, Qatar Airways, Oman Air and Bahrain Air.

While routes like Cochin-Doha, Cochin-Muscat and Cochin- Bahrain are now being operated by Jet Airways, Bangalore-Pune -Goa-Bangalore and Chennai-Coimbatore are being operated by Kingfisher airlines, they said, adding, "All these sectors have been clocking a seat factor of 80 per cent or more".

They hoped that the Civil Aviation Ministry would take corrective measures when the summer schedule of the airlines comes up for approval early next month.

2. Red Flag Warning

RED FLAG WARNING ISSUED FEBRUARY 20 AT 3:12AM CST EXPIRING FEBRUARY 20 AT 7:00PM CST BY NWS NORMAN-OKLAHOMA CITY
...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 7 PM CST THIS EVENING... A DRY LINE WILL BRING LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AN UNSEASONABLY WARM AIR MASS...AND STRONG WESTERLY WINDS INTO CENTRAL OKLAHOMA BY EARLY AFTERNOON. SUSTAINED WIND SPEEDS 20 TO 25 MPH AND SOME GUSTS TO 30 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE. MINIMUM RELATIVE HUMIDITY OF 15 TO 20 PERCENT IS LIKELY.

3. Inmate’s children feel brunt of penalty

KINGFISHER — Holding back tears, 9-year-old Koby whispers words like “mad” and “sad” when talking about his imprisoned mother.
His mom, Patricia Spottedcrow, 25, is serving 10 years for $31 in marijuana sales to a police informant. Her mother, Delita Starr, is free on a 30-year suspended sentence.

Grandmother Delita Starr holds Ja’zalynn Rex, 1, as Koby LeBlanc, center, 9, and Ja’alizah Rex, 3, exit a special transit van at the family’s home in Kingfisher. PHOTO BY ADAM WISNESKI, Tulsa World

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Inmate’s children feel brunt of penalty
Koby was in his grandmother’s home during one of the transactions, helping make change with dollar bills from his “Christmas jar,” records state. He remembers the police raid.
“It was scary because I was asleep and there was a guy standing in the room,” he said. “They pointed guns everywhere. I went to the room with my mama and sisters. After that, I had to go to school.”
Koby was born when his mother was a teenager. He has three sisters, ages 1 to 4, from his mother’s eight-year relationship with a common-law husband.
It was a surprise when the judge ordered his mom imprisoned and she didn’t return home one day while he was in school, he said.
“It was real sudden. My grandma told me. It was sad. My mama called me the next day … she was crying, and so was I.”
Koby is already thinking about a party and having time with his mom when she returns home.
He sheds a tear remembering what he misses most. “I used to go in her room and get to lay down with her,” he said, pausing. “I can’t see her no more.”
Koby has become the caregiver for his sisters on occasion as his grandmother serves as their guardian. The girls’ father helps, but an illness prevents him from caring full-time for the children, Spottedcrow said.
“It’s hard, and I have to have Koby help me,” said Starr, 50. “The people in the community have been real helpful. We would not have had Christmas without the donations. I couldn’t do it without the help of the Lord. We pray every day.”
Starr earns minimum wage working at a gas station and receives food stamps and child care subsidies. She is paying off her nearly $8,600 in court fines at $50 a month. She lives in a rural area and cannot drive because her license was suspended after her conviction. She gets rides from neighbors and friends.
The girls call her “mama” once in a while, and Starr corrects them. “These little girls don’t understand why … or how long she’s going to be gone.”
Starr said the 1-year-old had an especially hard time. “She woke up … yelling ‘Mama, mama, mama,’ and we’d just cry. We’d cry together. They are missing a lot without her here.”

NEHA JAIN

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