IndiGo's miseries surge as DGCA steps up inspection of Airbus engines

keywords: dg arun kumar, Federal Aviation Administration, Airbus A320 family, IndiGo, goair, industry news, industry growth, Indian industry news

In India, flyers' concerns, these days can be traced neither to any Boeing plane nor to 'flight-shame' but to Airbus 320neo aircraft equipped with Pratt & Whitney engines. Without transparency on their safety, one really can’t presume passengers to board these aircraft with the trust one would usually take for granted.

The civil aviation authorities in India have stepped up investigation of engines on Airbus SE’s A320neo jets, pushing the country’s largest airline, IndiGo, to have to substitute 130 engines.

According to Arun Kumar, the head of India civil aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) a more profound boroscopic examination” of engines manufactured by Pratt & Whitney has recognised more engines at danger of shutting down in midair. Out of roughly 200 engines in use, IndiGo, the airline having the most number of such engines, will now have to replace at least 130. Earlier, India’s civil aviation minister, Hardeep Singh Puri, had put this figure as 110.

IndiGo's miseries surge as DGCA steps up inspection of Airbus engines

Airbus 320 (neos), fitted with PW engines, are facing a lot of problems. The DGCA had requested IndiGo early November to replace earlier PW engines in all aircraft by the end of January after a spate of events on the airline's Airbus 320 (neos), operated on PW engines.

The increased examination will attach additional pressure on IndiGo as it could considerably delay its expansion plans. IndiGo has been forbidden from adding new routes or flights until it substitutes all faulty engines. That could also add to pressure on Pratt, a unit of United Technologies Corp., to direct more engines to IndiGo.

Kumar said the DGCA would decide in mid-January 2020 whether to grant IndiGo more time — beyond the current Jan. 31 deadline — before it started ordering some planes be grounded. The affected planes have continued to fly while the work is being done since they have two engines.

Kumar added that IndiGo has fully embraced a revised take-off process that doesn’t apply full thrust on the engines, a practice the DGCA had associated with repeated in-flight turbine breakdowns.

Budget carrier IndiGo is the biggest customer for Airbus’ best-selling A320neo series, at a time when demand for Airbus jets has towered. A competitive model made by Boeing Co. has been grounded since March 2019 following two fatal crashes that killed more than 300 people.

IndiGo, operated by InterGlobe Aviation Ltd., is the largest budget carrier in Asia by market value and has been appending jets at a breakneck speed of more than one a week.

IndiGo is the only domestic carrier India which operates 1,500 flights a day, a feat which has never been accomplished before. The airline currently has a fleet of 249 planes and operates to 83 destinations, including 23 international ones and flies over 0.25 million passengers a day. IndiGo now operates on an average one flight per minute. Recently, IndiGo became a member of the international airline's body, IATA. 

Ashmita Sethi, Pratt’s newly appointed head for India, has said“We continue to work closely with the DGCA as part of our ongoing engagement, to ensure that we keep to schedules.”  

Airbus said it was “working closely with Pratt & Whitney and the DGCA to maintain the schedule for engine deliveries.”

Three airlines in Asia, including in India, are the ones reporting the most maximum number of occurrences with Airbus 320 (neos). European safety agency EASA and the US safety agency FAA have also issued similar engine replacement orders for Airbus 320 (neos) operating in the country because the onus is on these aviation safety agencies to perform and assure secure operations.

GoAir also runs Airbus 320 (neos) fitted with PW engines but the DGCA did not ask for any change as the fleet size was low.

IndiGo has ordered the next batch of engines from CFM. Besides announcing orders of 280 CFM engines and 300 Airbus aircraft to fuel its future growth.

A self-sustaining Educational Institution

Industry-Education Collaboration.

Generally in a typical Educational institution in the country, huge resources like land, building, air, water, and manpower are always available. But, unfortunately, these remain as non-performing assets in the books.

The end results are already visible. The conditions of country-side schools, drop-out rates, and billions spent for the sake of providing education following the principles of socialism. Those billions, unfortunately, have been non-refundable. The Industry, too, consider products of education as 'unemployable'. Most of the entry level candidates have to undergo real industrial training as apprentices.

A pro-active, visionary, and competent management will look for effective practical means to link such idle assets with normal day-to-day activities of humans. While doing so, not only some positive growth will become visible, but almost all academic subjects can be covered.

The normal day-to-day activities being carried out every day in a typical educational institution are listed here around which academic classes can be intelligently programmed.

Priority No.	Field of Study	Core Activities	Key Academic Subjects
1	Energy	Combination of locally specific solar, wind, geothermal, hydel, biogas and cogeneration, building AC, water & waste management	Engg
2	Civil Maintenance	Building and ground maintenance, sanitation, electrical upkeep, Telecomm, instrumentation	Science and Tech
3	Agri based	Food Processing: fruits and vegetables, oil or flour mills	Production Engg
4	Dairy	Milk products	Zoology, bio-tech
5	Fish/poultry	Pond utilisation	Zoology
6	Catering	Mess Maintenance: Internal, external needs for food	Hotel Management
7	Horticulture	Campus beautification, tree plantation, exotic and medicinal plants cultivation	Botany
8	Media/Journalism	To report all such activities	Languages, literature, Hindi, English, local regional language
9	IT	The essential tool for all	Computer Science
10	HR	Looking after the welfare	Personnel Management
11	Accounts	Monitor cash-inflows	Commerce

Important Note: Every activity area has still more academic subjects in common like economics, environment, industrial engineering, history, geography, psychology, philosophy,  sociology, and, of course, Law.

Each such activity brings in 'value addition'- the key feature of the meaning of Life. The material profits are just by-products that make the institution self-reliant and let it have an iota of credibility.

The main requirements to achieve these objectives are:

-The students be inducted after due counselling considering their family backgrounds, strengths, weaknesses and aspirations,

- Putting the right person in the right trade,

- Identification of locally available resources

The most significant takeaways when the academic curriculum is designed or built around normal human activities,, can be listed as:

- The Institution eventually becomes self-reliant
- Renewable energy systems: environment-friendly power, water and waste management 

- Ability to observe 24/7/365 discipline 

- Optimum resource utilisation for value addition
- Emphasis on skill development
- Emphasis on vocational studies, entrepreneurship, tech build-up
- Better interaction with industry

It is up to the management to practice what it tries to preach.

Aapki Khabar Aapka Fayda: New education policy to be introduced in India

Festival Season is Here Again

Patna, Nov 13, 2018

An ocean of mankind slipped on the banks of Ganga, Gandak, Kosi, Baghmati and different streams, rivers, and lakes over the state as lakhs of aficionados offered Araghya (regard) to the setting Sun on the event of heavenly Chhath celebrations today.

In Patna, an expected 2.5 million enthusiasts thronged on the 23 km extend on the banks of waterway Ganga to offer Aragya to the setting Sun.

On different rivers spread over the length and broadness of Bihar a huge number of people also offered Aragya to setting Sun with full holiness and devotion on the event of heavenly Chhath celebration.

They offered occasional organic products, including Apple, Sugar Cane, Banana, Coconut and Thekua(a sweet customary arrangement of flour) as "prasad" to the Sun God.

Attired in conventional garments sarees, lady enthusiasts stayed in waist deep water of the river stream and paid regard to God Sun while their relatives, near and dear ones likewise went with them in venerating sun.

In the interim, the official residence of the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar at 7, Circular Road wore a happy look where the Chhath celebration is being commended with full energy.