AI Express flight cancellations: Cong, CPI seek Aviation Ministry intervention
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): In the wake of scores of Air India Express international flights being cancelled at the last minute and irate passengers protesting at airports across Kerala, both the Congress and the CPI on Wednesday demanded urgent intervention by the Centre to solve the problem.
Leader of Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan wrote to Union Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia highlighting the plight of the passengers and seeking his urgent intervention to ensure alternative travel arrangements for those affected.
Satheesan, in his letter, said that the majority of the travellers learned about the cancellations only after they arrived at the airports.
ALSO READ :Kerala airports see passengers protest against AI Express' last minute cancellations
"Many people heading to the Middle East face the risk of losing their employment since they will be unable to return on time," he said.
Citing reports, he said the airline did not even extend the basic courtesy of providing the stranded passengers with food or accommodation.
"In these urgent circumstances, I request your good self to provide alternative arrangements to resolve the bottleneck due to the unreasonable cancellation of multiple international and domestic services of Air India Express from Kerala," Satheesan said.
CPI state secretary Binoy Viswam too sought urgent intervention of the ministry to solve the travel problems of passengers.
In a statement, he said thousands of passengers were stranded at various airports across the country after more than 70 services of the Air India Express were cancelled.
"It has also affected the employment prospects of those seeking a job abroad and those who have to rejoin work after holidays," Viswam said.
He said that according to the airline, the present predicament was due to the mass leave taken by the cabin crew of Air India Express.
Viswam said the airline's employees were forced to take such a step as the management did not try to address their concerns and problems.
"This shows that the privatisation of Air India, which was a public sector entity, has not only affected the employees but also the passengers," he added.
Passengers, mostly travelling to the Gulf nations, claimed that they were informed about the flight cancellations after they completed their security check and were waiting to board the flight.
Many of them, who protested at the airports, claimed that they could lose their jobs if they did not reach their place of work today, while some others' work visas are about to expire.
Air India Express has offered a full refund or complimentary rescheduling to another date, but affected travellers are not happy with it.
Air India Express has cancelled "scores of flights" due to a shortage of cabin crew members as a section of them are reporting sick to protest against alleged mismanagement at the Tata Group-owned airline, according to sources.
Discontent has been brewing among a section of the cabin crew at the low-cost carrier for some time now, especially after the start of the process of merger of AIX Connect, formerly AirAsia India, with itself.
The sources today said several cabin crew members started reporting sick since Monday evening and as there are not enough cabin crew members, "scores of flights" have been cancelled at various airports, including Kochi, Calicut and Kannur.
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Gopi Thotakura becomes 1st Indian space tourist on Blue Origin's private astronaut launch
Washington, May 19: Gopi Thotakura, an entrepreneur and a pilot, on Sunday became the first Indian to venture into space as a tourist aboard Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin’s NS-25 mission.
Thotakura was selected as one of the six crew members for the NS-25 mission, making him the first Indian space tourist and the second Indian to venture into space after the Indian Army's Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma in 1984.
Blue Origin's seventh human flight, NS-25, lifted off from Launch Site One in West Texas on Sunday morning, the company announced on social media.
This mission was the seventh human flight for the New Shepard programme and the 25th in its history. To date, the programme has flown 31 humans above the Karman line, the proposed conventional boundary between Earth's atmosphere and outer space.
New Shepard is a fully reusable sub-orbital launch vehicle developed for space tourism by Blue Origin.
According to Blue Origin, "Gopi is a pilot and aviator who learned how to fly before he could drive."
He co-founded Preserve Life Corp, a global centre for holistic wellness and applied health located near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
In addition to flying jets commercially, he pilots bush, aerobatic, and seaplanes, as well as gliders and hot air balloons, and has served as an international medical jet pilot.
A lifelong traveller, his most recent adventure took him to the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
Andhra Pradesh-born Thotakura is a graduate of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Other crew members of the flight include Mason Angel, Sylvain Chiron, Kenneth L. Hess, Carol Schaller, and former Air Force Captain Ed Dwight, who was selected by President John F Kennedy in 1961 as the nation's first Black astronaut candidate but was never granted the opportunity to fly to space.
The rocket booster landed safely a couple minutes prior to the capsule, CNN reported.
During the mission, the crew soared to more than three times the speed of sound. The rocket vaulted the capsule past the Kármán line, an area 100 kilometers above Earth’s surface that is widely recognized as the altitude at which outer space begins — but there’s a lot of gray area, the channel said.
At the peak of the flight, passengers experienced a few minutes of weightlessness and striking views of Earth through the cabin windows, it added.
During the flight, each astronaut carried a postcard to space on behalf of Blue Origin’s foundation, Club for the Future.
This programme gives students access to space on Blue Origin’s rockets, including an all-digital method to create and send postcards. The Club’s mission is to inspire and mobilise future generations to pursue careers in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) for the benefit of Earth.
From an environmental standpoint, nearly 99 per cent of New Shepard’s dry mass is reused, including the booster, capsule, engine, landing gear, and parachutes.
New Shepard’s engine is fuelled by highly efficient liquid oxygen and hydrogen. During the flight, the only byproduct is water vapour with no carbon emissions, the company earlier said.
Blue Origin released the NS-25 mission patch. A few of the symbols embedded include: The Gemini spacecraft represents Dwight’s aerospace training era. The hand lifting of the crew capsule is a nod to his extensive artwork.
The sunrise represents Angel and Schaller’s desire to experience the overview effect. The mountains symbolise Schaller, Thotakura, and Chiron’s passion for climbing and skiing.
Jeff Bezos’ space company had paused its suborbital tourism programme following a liftoff malfunction of the New Shepard rocket. In September 2022, an uncrewed flight of New Shepard ended in flames around a minute after liftoff.
