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A senior pilot who is also director of operations for Air India, and has had responsibility for flight safety and training, said he was told by the carrier he failed two breathalyzer tests Sunday before a flight to London from New Delhi. It is the second time Arvind Kathpalia, who is also on the loss-making airline’s board, has been in trouble over alcohol tests. He was suspended for three months in 2017 for allegedly refusing to take breathalyzer tests. Kathpalia said that he would contest the results and claimed they were related to internal feuding within the state-owned company. According to a description for the operation director’s job when Kathpalia got appointed in June 2017, he is responsible for flight operations, ground operations, and flight safety and training operations. Air India declined to comment. Kathpalia failed two breathalyzer tests on Sunday and was declared unfit to fly, according to a pre-flight medical examination report for alcohol, posted on the website of news portal India Today. Kathpalia, who denies he had been drinking, corroborated the results of the breathalyzer and said he was tested twice in a span of 20 minutes, adding that the second test’s reading was higher than the first. “It was 1:30 in the afternoon, only a bloody stark raving alcoholic is bloody drunk at 1:30 in the afternoon,” Kathpalia said. “I am going to contest this.” He said that at Air India “everyone is fighting with everyone,” and that he has been targeted.<br/>

South African Airways could sell shares to the public as the state-owned carrier seeks ways to end years of losses and reduce the need for bailouts, according to people familiar with the matter. The move would enable the government to cut its stake in much the same way as it did with former phone monopoly Telkom almost two decades ago, said the people. However, the carrier would first need to make progress with a turnaround plan designed to reach break-even in three years, they said. While the sale of a stake to an equity partner has been aired repeatedly over the years, this is the first time it’s been suggested that SAA should list on a stock-exchange. Pretoria-based Telkom’s IPO in 2003 raised almost $500m and the government’s shareholding is now just under 40%. SAA declined to comment. The airline’s CEO Vuyani Jarana is facing renewed pressure from his bosses in government, which last month put aside 5b rand ($352m) to help SAA repay debt. Last week, Finance Minster Tito Mboweni said it was his preference to shut down the carrier rather than continue to stretch state finances, while his counterpart at the department of public enterprises, Pravin Gordhan, warned on Monday that “radical things need to be done” for the airline to survive. More immediate plans than the share sale include holding discussions with potential commercial joint-venture partners including Air Mauritius, one of the people said. <br/>