An Air India senior pilot failed the alcohol test just before operating a Delhi-UK flight Tuesday. The same pilot had flunked yet another pre-flight breath analyser test some years back. AI has grounded him for 3 years as per rules. Airline sources, however, are surprised as this pilot had reportedly turned a teetotaller after flunking a BA test for the first time about 5 years ago. "The pilot... is questioning the test result. He will take whatever legal options are open to him," said a source. To get back to the cockpit, pilots who fail the test for the second time have to undergo training afresh for flying which costs about INR3m for narrow body Airbus A-320 pilots and up to INR5m for those flying wide bodies like Boeing 777 and 787. <br/>
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SAS has taken delivery of its first of 30 A320neo aircraft, becoming the first airline in Scandinavia to operate the type. SAS ordered the A320neo as part of its strategy to modernise its fleet with more fuel-efficient aircraft, reducing environmental impact such as emissions and aircraft noise. The A320neo will join SAS’s existing Airbus fleet of 25 A320 family aircraft, 8 A330s and 8 A340s. SAS’s A320neo is configured in a single-class layout with 174 seats. The aircraft is powered by CFM International LEAP-1A engines and will be deployed on short- to medium-haul routes from its Scandinavian home bases to destinations throughout Europe. In September, SAS said it will invest US$52.5m over the next 3 years to upgrade its short- and medium-haul Airbus A320 fleet with full cabin upgrades and on-board Wi-Fi services. <br/>
Sixty South African pilots have taken up jobs with foreign airlines over the last 12 months. Most of them took up positions with Middle Eastern carriers‚ according to SAA Pilots Association chairman captain Jimmy Conroy. Conroy fears the local airline industry and the country may lose a large number of pilots to international airlines due to surging international demand - a loss of skills and experience which it cannot afford in the long term. "SAA has a normal attrition rate of 15 – 25 pilots per year. Recent negative publicity together with hostility from certain quarters has caused some pilots at SAA to re-evaluate their career options‚" he said. Pilots have been under the whip from SAA board chairperson Dudu Miyeni since last year‚ who says salaries paid to the airline's pilots are "exorbitant and unaffordable". <br/>