Air India Monday termed the aircraft grounding for maintenance a common practice, a day after one of its pilot unions alleged that as many as 19 aircraft were on ground due to lack of spares. "It is a common practice for every airline to ground some of its aircraft for routine maintenance and checks periodically by its engineering department so that the aircraft are fit to fly in conformity to laid down standards," Air India said. Asserting that it accords "top-most priority" to safety of the aircraft in its fleet, the airline said, "Our aircraft also go for these checks without affecting our flight schedule and causing inconvenience to our passengers." Besides, there are also aircraft fleet swaps which result in last minute change of inventory, the ICPA said in a letter to Air India chairman and managing director Pradeep Singh Kharola. <br/>
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In an attempt to revive cash-strapped Air India, the govt may write off INR300b (US$4.29b) loan and pump in about INR100b-INR110b, reported the Economic Times citing people aware of the development. Grappling with huge debts and tough business conditions, the ailing carrier is saddled with a debt of over INR500b. The financial daily quoted the people as saying the bailout package will include accumulated losses will be written off, allowing the company to clean up its balance sheet. “Small cash infusions are not making any dent. We want to put the airline in a commercially viable situation,” one of the officials said. Civil aviation secretary RN Choubey confirmed that talks are on for a rescue package for Air India. If the package okayed, this will be the second bailout for the carrier in the last 5 years. <br/>
Ethiopian Airlines is the frontrunner to set up and manage a new national carrier for Nigeria, its CE said. “We are among a small group with an interest in establishing a national carrier (in Nigeria)...we do not know the results (of the tender), though we are frontrunners,” CE Tewolde Gebremariam said. The carrier has outpaced regional competitors Kenya Airways and South African Airways to become Africa’s largest airline by revenue and profit, according to the IATA. Ethiopian Airlines already has contracts for maintenance work with 2 Nigeria-based carriers, Arik Air and Medview Airline, he said. In May, Tewolde said that the airline was in talks with Chad, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea and Guinea to set up carriers through joint ventures. It also aimed to create a new airline in Mozambique that it will fully own. <br/>
United Airlines has launched a new program to entice more corporate accounts to switch — or maintain — their loyalty to the carrier. Dubbed “United Corporate Preferred,” the new program is designed to offer top travel benefits to the airline’s most loyal business customers. Eligibility for the new program is determined by a corporation's contract status, revenue contribution and loyalty with United. Eligible corporate agreements include United corporate share agreements, United PassPlus and United Meetings. Benefits available to all participating customers in any tier include preferred upgrades, preferred standby when traveling on a different flight or when waitlisted for a seat in a different cabin or booking class, as well as operational adjustment protection during travel interruptions. <br/>