Civil Aviation Authority

"We will look into the interest of the aam admi and there will be no exorbitant fares," civil aviation minister Praful Patel said.

The airlines' proposal, made to sector regulator Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), relates to peak fares — which apply only if tickets are bought on the day of travel or the day before.

"The DGCA is looking into the matter. If a proposal has come, it doesn't necessarily mean it will be approved," Patel said. He added that the DGCA had issued notices to the airlines over the exorbitant upper-band fares they had proposed.

Under the airlines' proposal, the peak fare ranges between Rs 10,500 and Rs 40,000 over four distance bands: up to 750km; 750-1,000km; 1,000-1,400km and above 1,400 km.

The peak-fare band proposed for the 750-1,000km slab ranges between Rs 14,550 and Rs 19,500; while it is Rs 17,000 to Rs 25,000 for the next slab.

DGCA officials said the proposed fares were likely to be dismissed out of hand and airlines asked to "come to their senses".

If the airlines persisted in trying to raise fares, civil aviation officials said, "relevant authorities could well initiate probes and action against what we may view as cartel-like action".

The officials warned that licences could be given to new airlines to operate on Metro routes to break any "cartel-like situation". Allowing new players in telecom has led to lowering of tariffs.

Analysts said the proposed rates were too high and would make business unviable for most airlines, especially the low-cost ones.

"On major routes, high peak fares would result in traffic moving to the railways," said Robin Pathak, former Indian Airlines director and aviation sector analyst.

Airlines pointed out that the proposed price bands were only for peak fares. "The average price is much lower if the tickets are bought in advance," an airline official said.

For instance, if you now book a ticket for December 23 on a New Delhi-Calcutta flight, the price can be as low as Rs 4,030 on a low-cost airline. A ticket for tomorrow's flight could, however, cost around Rs 17,000.

The country's domestic airlines — including IndiGo Airlines SpiceJet, Jet Airways Konnect, JetLite, GoAir and Air India — have submitted the peak price bands in response to a DGCA directive last month to provide fare information on the first of each month.

The DGCA had issued its circular after fares on some routes, like Delhi-Mumbai, shot up by 300 per cent in November because of a demand-supply mismatch. The circular asked each airline to "furnish a copy of the route-wise tariff across its network in various fare categories... on the first day of every calendar month".

Pradeep Baijal, head of the Federation of Indian Airlines, said: "FIA does not discuss fares.... Fares are decided by individual airlines." Jet Airways refused comment on the proposed fare hikes while other airlines sought time to react.

Aviation sector analyst Sudipto Sen said: "Airlines have been ratcheting up fares in response to increasing demands.... However, we estimate that once Air India, Indigo, SpiceJet and Jet manage to get deliveries of ordered planes, there could be over-capacity on many routes, sharply bringing down the fares."

Ethiopian Airlines recently celebrated the maiden flight of its first woman captain.Amsale Gualu Endegnanew, when she took off on her first flight from the left-hand seat on the flight deck of a Bombardier Q-400 aircraft from Addis Ababa.

She flew the service to Gondar, then to Axum and finally returned back to Addis Ababa after a total of 3,6 flight hours.

Captain Amsale joined the Ethiopian Airlines pilot Training School on July, 10, 2000 and started her career as first officer on November 26, 2002.Since then; she has trained and worked on Fokker-50, Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft as first officer. Captain Amsale has been able to complete all the necessary training requirements and passed through rigorous checks to gain her fourth stripe.

She had a total of 4475 flight hours under her belt when she became the commander of her flight.

Ato Tewolde G. Mariam, designated chief executive officer of the airline, welcomed her at an Addis Ababa International Airport function on her return flight from Axum ,saying: "We congratulate Captain Amsale on her outstanding achievement. She deserves the recognition as she has demonstrated tremendous dedication to reach the pinnacle."

They started employment at all ages, from all backgrounds and in many different areas. They are Legal Advisers, Press Officers, Consumer Affairs Officers, Air Traffic Services Inspectors. And these are only just a few of the vital roles at the CAA, the UK's world class air transport regulator.

Many people are passionately interested in aviation and travel but, sadly, only a proportion can be employed as aircrew. That is why the Civil Aviation Authority is such a popular destination for those seeking to play an important role in shaping the future of air transport in the UK. Besides maintaining safety standards in the UK, the organization provides added value throughout the industry on an international scale. It promotes best practice regulation across Europe and aims to be a leading partner in EASA, the European Aviation Safety Agency.

Apart from its well- known involvement in air safety, the CAA is also responsible for ATOL, the Air Travel Organiser's License scheme which protects holidaymakers from losing their deposits or being stranded abroad when their travel company goes under.

As it positions itself for the future, the CAA obviously needs to recruit and retain some of the very best professionals and provide a culture which inspires and rewards high performance. To drive continuous improvement of aviation safety and effectiveness, it clearly has to be committed to the ongoing development of its people and their capabilities.

Needless to say the CAA is an extremely varied organisation having a broad spectrum of business areas, each requiring particular skills, knowledge and experience. Consequently, the types of role for which it recruits are equally varied and, to ensure that it's drawing on the best talents available, it takes equality and diversity very seriously.

While many of the thousands who are employed by the CAA are engaged in highly specialist work specific to aviation safety, many others are active in all the back-up roles that you would typically expect to find in any large organization. Although it is based at two main locations, in Central London and Gatwick, it also maintains regional offices and exam centres at sites throughout England and Scotland in order to work closely with the aviation industry at the sharp end.

Refreshingly, the CAA maintains its own recruitment website so that prospective applicants can get a close insight into the organization and the opportunities on offer. It is possible to apply for individual jobs directly via the site and it even has a facility to register one's interest and file one's CV in anticipation of future vacancies in specific key roles.

Perhaps one of the biggest attractions of working for the CAA are the generous terms and conditions, including one of the very few remaining final salary pension schemes. Above all, the level of job security is almost second to none. The CAA is going to exist in one form or another for as long as people use air travel and, as it is funded by the airlines themselves, it is not subject to any public sector cutbacks.

The recent demise of the XL Group, a major UK travel company with its own airline and trading under established brands such as Kosmar and Medlife Hotels is an unnerving event for all holidaymakers. With over 20 airlines ceased trading in the past year, how can we be sure that we will not be placed in a similar situation of loss when we book with any travel company or airline?

It is interesting that the statement on the XL group's website said: "The companies entered into administration having suffered as a result of volatile fuel prices, the economic downturn, and were unable to obtain further funding." In a comment from rival holiday firm TUI, it is clear that the industry mandarins are warning that due to rising fuel prices, and less money available from banks due to lending restrictions brought on by the credit crunch "airlines with less than robust business models" - such as XL - were now failing. Clearly the mandarins of the bigger holiday companies are clear that their business models are indeed robust, and we should believe them of course.

But clearly, company size is not everything - XL was actually the 3rd largest operator in the UK - and so it is important always to understand what financial protection is available in the event that the worst happens and your holiday company fails.

In the UK, the Civil Aviation Authority oversees the ATOL licensing system whereby any operator or airline offering holidays by air pays into a bonding scheme based on its business turnover. Funds thus generated are used to repatriate holidaymakers, or refund money paid in advance for such bonded holidays. It seems even more important in these difficult times, to make sure that you ensure every element of your holiday is ATOL protected.

However, it is important to know that this scheme is no a "catch-all", when a holidaymaker has booked a "flight only" or a flight and accommodation separately. In the XL demise, it is estimated that more than 10,000 people were not ATOL protected because they booked separate flights and accommodation or flights only. In these days of do-it-yourself holiday packaging via separate bookings via the internet, this situation is unlikely to improve unless legislation changes.

Many consumer rights groups are vociferous in their demands that the Government should take steps to ensure all holiday companies must belong to the ATOL scheme, which offers package holiday makers financial protection. However, it is difficult to see how a scheme run via the Civil Aviation Authority should be able to cover elements of a holiday such as hotels which are purchased separately and are not in an "Aviation" remit.

Because such "Do-It-Yourself" holidays aren't protected by the ATOL scheme, it is important to think about alternative protection. Examples are:

Book with a credit card: But be careful here, because you still might not be covered. You must spend at least £100 on each element of the holiday - and charge cards or debit cards do not offer any protection.

Take out travel insurance: Look for policies which cover against holiday company or holiday provider insolvency. However, it is vital to check the small print, as many policies don't include this cover.

And also remember the important fact that you can only be covered for the component of your holiday that's gone out of business. You can't claim for the others and so you will need to rebook the missing element - possible at a higher price, or possibly with difficulty of any availability at all.

Sometimes, it seems much easier to book a complete package supplied by a single ATOL bonded operator - but taking these few small steps will at least ensure you have the same financial protection outside the scheme, even if you are more "on your own" in the event of a business failure.