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Air India plans to add 35 new planes this year as the airline prepares for "consolidation and expansion" by flying to more number of international as well as domestic routes, its chief Ashwani Lohani has said. Emphasising that the "battle has just begun" in terms of revival, Lohani said Air India needs to be competitive in fares with attractive schemes. "I expect almost 35 new planes to join the Air India family during 2017 and all of us need to be in full readiness to receive them, fill them and fly them," the Air India CMD said in a New Year message to the employees. With the addition of the new aircraft, the group would have a fleet of more than 170 planes. According to Lohani, public perception about the airline is showing an improving trend, which is getting visible, "even if marginally in all our performance related indices". <br/>

A man was arrested after it was claimed he had a racist rant on-board a United Airlines flight bound for San Francisco, which led to it being diverted to Auckland. The New Year's Day flight, which originated in Sydney, was diverted after a passenger failed to listen to crew Sunday afternoon. Passengers have recounted the man allegedly going into a verbally abusive, racist rant when two other passengers described as being of Indian or Pakistani descent, seated on either side, talked over him. A United Airlines spokeswoman said the flight was diverted because a passenger failed to follow crew instructions. All 252 passengers were put up in hotels overnight. The crew of 4 pilots and 11 flight attendants had to be given enough time to rest before the plane, a Boeing 787, could take off again Monday. <br/>