We’ll help you find a flight that best suits your itinerary. We’ll give you timely gate information and flight status updates. Several new reports on Frequent Flyer magazine look at the current climate of air travel and how the new rules and regulations affect your time both in the sky and on the ground.

With a bloated staff of 28,500 whose employment terms are protected by law, the airline is far from benefiting from the merger. For line managers, the task of turning it around is tougher because of political interference in almost every aspect of its functioning. Several senior managers hired from outside, led by COO Gustav Baldauf, were forced to quit in less than a year. Chairman and MD Arvind Jadhav, a senior bureaucrat, is in the unenviable position of tackling losses that touched $1.23 billion in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2010.

Yet beneath all the disorder that is highlighted in the Indian press with unfailing regularity, AI has more than a few things going for it. Vital changes like a shift from a point-to-point to a hub-and-spoke network over the past few months could make a big difference when fully rolled out. Delhi now connects to 43 airports in India and 28 points abroad. AI intends to make Mumbai its second hub when a new terminal is ready by 2014.

A renewal of the fleet over the next two years that is expected to better match equipment to the network, along with the long-delayed entry into Star Alliance—now expected by July—are more triggers that could help the carrier change its course. With accumulated losses of $3.32 billion, there is only the small matter of surviving until then.

“The most serious problem we have today is our debt,” says Jadhav. Interest costs have risen to roughly $2 million a day and servicing this burden is proving to be a bigger challenge than fixing the operations. AI is borrowing money for working capital and to pay salaries every month. Jadhav is working with bankers to restructure the debt for more breathing room.

Through the Ministry of Civil Aviation he also is lobbying the government to infuse more equity into the carrier. Despite the popular perception of AI receiving frequent bailouts, raising funds from the primary shareholders has not been easy. Last year the government put in $442 million, the first major fund injection into an airline that will complete 80 years of operation next year. The money is subject to results on cost-cutting and performance improvement.

On restructuring debt, Jadhav has the example of his private-sector rival Kingfisher Airlines to follow. Its promoter, beer baron Vijay Mallya, has managed to convince banks to grant him a breather on that carrier’s debt of $1.55 billion, partly by converting some of it into equity. For AI and Jadhav, the path is likely to be much tougher.

Though everyone including the government expects private-sector efficiency from Air India, it never has been run like a commercial enterprise. It continues to serve as the government air arm, being deployed for social and political reasons. This role was highlighted in the evacuation of Indian citizens from Libya and other troubled countries around the Persian Gulf in recent months. Though AI charged the passengers for some of those flights, the planes could be pulled out of their schedules when needed largely owing to being government-owned.

Ravi, a former trade unionist, is following a different tack. He has ruled out privatization and believes taking the employees along will make change happen. He has opened lines of communication with the 14 recognized unions in an attempt to rally them to accept the cuts in salaries and perks that are expected to be implemented in the coming months.

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Since its launch in 1986, the fast-growing Dubai-government owned airline has not relied on state support, said Tim Clark, Emirates president.

“Emirates has always charted its own course,” he told the Financial Times. “We don’t see any change; the airline is profitable and our flights are full.”

The airline has bonds of $1.7bn maturing by 2013, according to Standard & Poor’s. Financiers are worried that Dubai World’s call for a debt standstill could make it harder for other Dubai entities to raise finance.

Mr Clark said the airline uses a balance of bond and sukuk issuance, aircraft financing, export agency guarantee credit and leasing arrangements to fund its $50bn-$60bn order book for more than 150 aircraft.

“The government is supportive, but it doesn’t involve itself in our business,” he said. “The financing community knows we have the cash flows to meet repayment schedules.”

Mr Clark said he expected the airline’s Dh752m ($205m) half-year profit at the end of September to increase in the second half of the fiscal year at the end of March.

He said Dubai would overcome its current debt woes and focus on its strengths, including aviation.

China Southern Airlines, the first Chinese operator to fly the Airbus A380 aircraft, has signed a contract with Airbus for customized Flight Hour Services (FHS) for its fleet of five A380s, scheduled to be in service from the second half of 2011.

Airbus will deliver to China Southern Airlines a tailor-made FHS solution supported by the benchmark Airbus worldwide customer services system. This long-term agreement guarantees on-site availability of Line Replaceable Units (LRUs), related logistics and maintenance services for China Southern Airlines, which joins the club of growing Airbus FHS customers in Asia.

“The introduction of Airbus A380s and the Airbus A380 FHS to China Southern Airlines extends a long and successful partnership with Airbus. The fully customised Airbus Flight Hour Services solution for our A380 fleet will contribute to securing the highest service level our passengers are accustomed to,” said Dong Suguang Executive Vice President Maintenance and Engineering of China Southern Airlines.

“With its introduction of Airbus A380s and becoming the first customer in China to operate this aircraft, China Southern Airlines again exhibits its innovative vision and excellent judgment. The A380 is the ideal aircraft to meet the demands of the fast growing travel market in China and Airbus FHS underlines our full commitment to service excellence,” said Pierre Steffen, Senior Vice President Customer Service and Operations Airbus China.

“This agreement reinforces Airbus strong commitment to be integrally involved from aircraft choice, the entry into service and onwards securing the daily operations of our Airbus customers,” said Didier Lux, Executive Vice President Customer Services of Airbus.

By the end of March 2011, China Southern Airlines operates the largest Airbus aircraft fleet in China, which includes 169 A320 Family and 18 A330s. In 2005, China Southern Airlines placed a firm order for five A380s, becoming the first Chinese airline to order the double-decker.