Business
Flight go-arounds, returns to bay ‘entirely normal’: Air India chief – The Times of India
NEW DELHI: Air India chief Campbell Wilson has told employees that there is nothing alarming about the go-around and flights returning to the bay in context of the carrier’s “scale and size” and said that the “the incidence rate is entirely normal”.“Over the past few months, our operations have garnered significant attention… Like all airlines, we face a variety of operational scenarios – some of which are under our control, and some that are not. When the spotlight is on us, it’s crucial to offer timely, clear and accurate information and the right context. So over recent weeks we have been even more transparent than usual in reporting incidents and events, however small,” the Air India MD & CEO said.AI hopes this “transparency will, over time, help build trust”. But “in the short term though, it naturally results in an uptick of news coverage, and with more than 1,200 departures every single day – nearly one every minute – across the Air India Group, it can seem like a lot. In context of our scale and size, however, the incidence rate is entirely normal,” he said.Tatas had acquired AI along with AI Express in Jan 2022 and returning the Maharaja’s lost glory is among the toughest challenges in contemporary aviation. So over three-and-a-half years after the return to founder Tata fold, AI is still tackling multiple challenges. The DGCA has fined AI on multiple occasions over violations.To be fair, AI is not the only airline that has faced DGCA ire over alleged deficiencies and also every carrier faces the same from time to time. But AI Group and IndiGo are seen as key to India’s dream of becoming an aviation superpower as that requires strong home airlines.After the Ahmedabad crash, in which 260 people died, AI has downsized its operations after June 12 for factoring in things like enhanced aircraft checks and plans to restore all international flights from next month. On his part, Campbell Wilson said in his message to employees that “our performance continues to improve thanks to the collective efforts across the organisation.” These, according to him, include improved on time performance and baggage handling.“We’ve empowered our front-line teams with the ability to offer e-vouchers to customers in cases where a service shortfall has occurred, such as for mishandled baggage, and are also working to extend this capability to our cabin crew, enabling them to provide on-the-spot resolution to customers during their journey,” he said.
A years-long succession battle within Rupert Murdoch’s conservative media empire has drawn to a close, with his son Lachlan set to control the news group.
The deal, which the family announced on Monday, will ensure the ongoing conservative leaning of Fox News, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post even after 94-year-old Rupert’s death.
Under the agreement Lachlan will control a new trust while siblings Prue MacLeod, Elizabeth Murdoch and James Murdoch will cease being beneficiaries of any trust with shares in Fox or News Corp.
It follows years of tension between the media mogul and three of his children over the future of the family-owned newspapers and television networks.
The Murdoch family’s internal turmoil served as inspiration for the hit television drama Succession. The deal announced on Monday to end the real-life saga ends all litigation over the family’s trust.
Lachlan’s more politically moderate oldest siblings are poised to sell their holdings in Fox and News Corp in the coming months. They will also be named as beneficiaries of a new trust, which will receive cash from the sale of about 14.2 million shares of News Corp. and 16.9 million shares of Fox Corp.
The sale of their shares will add to the three siblings’ existing inheritance, but prevent them from having any influence over the political bent of the family’s media conglomerate.
Lachlan is currently the chair of News Corp, which counts The Wall Street Journal and The Times among its slew of publications. He is widely seen as the most politically conservative of Rupert’s oldest children.
“The leadership, vision and management by the company’s chair, Lachlan Murdoch, will continue to be important to guiding the company’s strategy and success,” News Corp said in a statement announcing the deal.
Andy WatsonBBC News, North East and Cumbria, Hendon, Sunderland
BBCA community shop on Wearside which runs a free second-hand school uniform scheme has moved into a larger premises to cope with a rise in demand.
Second Chance CIC in Hendon, Sunderland, collects donations of pre-worn items which are offered to those in need for no charge.
It has moved to a new premises on Toward Road after being “inundated” with parents asking for support.
Director Wendy English said it could give out “200 items a week” because families were unable to afford to buy a new uniform on top of bills and food.
“I had a family in the other week and they were struggling so much that they couldn’t even afford to eat – and they didn’t have their uniform in,” she said.
“They were struggling like mad so we made sure they got everything they needed.”
The group have also received thousands of pounds worth of grants from the Community Lottery Fund and Sunderland City Council, which has allowed it to buy new items of clothing.
Mrs English said: “This bigger store was exactly what we need as we simply couldn’t handle the number of clothes being donated at our previous one.
“But now being able to buy new clothes and not just rely on pre-warn donations is something we’ve not been able to do and it’s been so well received.”
Mrs English said on average 20 families use the service each day.
Julianna Atola went to Second Chance to get a uniform for her four-year-old daughter, who has just started school.
“It’s a big help,” she said. “Their second-use clothes is just as good as new but the difference is it’s no cost.”
Earlier this year, the Department for Education (DfE) announced it would change the law to limit the number of compulsory branded items required by schools to three, plus a branded tie for secondary students, in a bid to cut costs for families.
The government said it believed parents in England would save about £50 per child through its school uniform measures, which it hopes to introduce next September.
However, Mrs English said it was still “not enough”.
“They should just get rid of all branded items,” she said.
“I’m sure it would be a massive help to families.”
Thousands of university staff are to be balloted for strikes in a dispute over pay.
The University and College Union (UCU) said 65,000 of its members working in universities across the UK will vote in the coming weeks on whether to launch a campaign of industrial action.
The union said employers had refused to increase a 1.4% pay offer.
The UCU said it has started preparations for an aggregated UK-wide ballot of its members, covering 138 institutions, which it expects to open on October 20.
It warned of co-ordinated industrial action with other unions representing university staff in the new year.
UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: “University employers are now on notice that we will launch a UK-wide pay ballot with the potential for co-ordinated strike action that will cause maximum disruption on campus.
“Our members, not vice-chancellors, are the people who support students, create teaching materials, conduct world-leading research and keep universities running; we are the university.
“Employers now need to recognise that imposing a 1.4% pay award, when inflation is still soaring, is a significant real-terms pay cut and an insult to hard-working higher education staff.
“It’s time for them to come back to the table with an improved offer that will settle this dispute and avoid the need for a strike ballot and potential industrial action.”
Raj Jethwa, chief executive of the University and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA), said: “Our sector and its students will be concerned about yet another trade union-generated ballot for industrial action.
“UCU’s Higher Education Committee (HEC) took this decision over a week ago, informing their members and HE institutions today.
“EIS, GMB, Unite and Unison, will also be proceeding with statutory ballots for industrial action.
“It is palpably clear that the sector’s HE institutions cannot afford to improve the uplift.
“The sector is grappling with reduced income because of a decline in overseas students, increased costs for employer contributions to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme and an increase of over £370 million in employer National Insurance Contributions.
“UCEA has already begun to deliver on the other elements of our extensive final pay offer. This included progress on our proposals for joint work with the unions to further reduce pay gaps, and to promote good practice on contract types and workload.
“Employers take these issues extremely seriously. But they also take seriously the threat of industrial action and will have measures in place to mitigate the impact on students.”
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