The Dubai-based airline is the largest customer of the Airbus A380, whose sheer size has made it particularly unviable to maintain during the pandemic.
Since mid-March, most jumbo jets have barely flown except on short hops to maintain pilots’ certifications, while many furloughs seem to be becoming permanent.
Keeping crew flight-ready is one of the main challenges carriers face during the unprecedented Covid crisis that keeps more than a third of the world’s fleet grounded.
Airbus decided to discontinue the A380 program as carriers looked to simplify fleets and upgrade fuel efficiency but airlines are also opting to retire it early.
Airshows are thrilling spectacles of aviation skill and engineering marvels. But they carry inherent risks as the crew is pushing the aircraft, and themselves, to perform at the edges of the envelope.
While global corporations setting up GCCs in India continue to express confidence in availability of skilled AI engineers, the panel argued that India’s real challenge lies elsewhere.
Wing Commander Namansh Syal is survived by his wife, their 6-year-old daughter and his mother. Back in his native village, relatives and neighbours wait for his remains for last rites.
It is a brilliant, reasonably priced, and mostly homemade aircraft with a stellar safety record; only two crashes in 24 years since its first flight. But its crash is a moment of introspection.
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