Soubhik Mitra is an assistant editor with the Hindustan Times. The Mumbai boy has spent over a decade reporting on civic, environmental and political issues. His current stint is the longest where he writes on aviation and travel.
Articles by Soubhik Mitra
How Aila stole city monsoon’s thunder
Cyclone Aila — that left 300 dead and a trail of devastation in West Bengal — has taken the wind out of Mumbai’s monsoon, reports Soubhik Mitra.
Updated on Jun 12, 2009 01:22 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Soubhik Mitra, Mumbai
A330 comes under the scanner
Aircraft Engineers everywhere and also in India are conducting safety checks on Airbus 330 fleets after an Air France flight from Rio de Jeneiro to Paris crashed over the Atlantic on June 1, killing 228 people.
Updated on Jun 10, 2009 11:17 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Soubhik Mitra, Mumbai
Mumbai, Delhi airports join Heathrow in the Hall of Shame
Mumbai and Delhi airports are in the same league as London’s Heathrow, finally. All three feature in a Hall of Shame, released by the International Air Transport Association, a global body for airlines. Soubhik Mitra reports.
Updated on Jun 09, 2009 03:13 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Soubhik Mitra, Mumbai
State govt to paint the town green
The government wants every one of its departments to have a ‘green’ commitment. To necessitate this, it is drafting a plan that could soon become a policy. If it happens, every government department will be made accountable towards the environment, reports Soubhik Mitra.
Updated on Jun 08, 2009 01:53 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Soubhik Mitra, Mumbai
Fliers being shortchanged
While booking tickets for international flights you pay extra for your travel agent, but the commission never reaches him. After an inquiry, the aviation regulatory body has pulled up 14 international airlines, including Continental Airlines, Delta Airline, Air France, British Airways, Qatar Airways and served them show-cause notices, reports Soubhik Mitra.
Updated on Jun 07, 2009 02:20 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Soubhik Mitra, Mumbai
Trek with them, help fort-ify our history
They do not celebrate New Year or Christmas holidays partying in pubs, reports Soubhik Mitra.
Updated on Jun 05, 2009 01:21 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Soubhik Mitra, Mumbai
Monsoon may hit city in 4 days
Rain clouds on Wednesday were some 500 km south of Mumbai, at Karwar in Karnataka near Mangalore. If they don’t lose momentum, rain will hit the city in four days, said the city’s Met department.
Updated on Jun 04, 2009 01:14 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Soubhik Mitra, Mumbai
Near-miss at Mumbai airport, close shave for 220
Early on Sunday, two planes carrying more than 200 people hurtled towards each other on intersecting runways at the Mumbai airport, reports Soubhik Mitra.
Updated on Jun 01, 2009 01:02 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Soubhik Mitra, Mumbai
Ill-treated at Paris airport, allege 20 Indians
Dr Mathew Varghese (71), a diabetic and heart patient, had to struggle to find a sandwich during a marathon wait at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle Airport so that he could take his daily dose of insulin on time.
Updated on May 29, 2009 01:15 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Soubhik Mitra, Mumbai
Oil firms, airline staff litter airport, delay flights
The Mumbai International Airport Limited, the private consortium modernising the city airport, has registered 25 cases against people working with airlines and oil companies for littering the airfield in the last 10 months. The waste includes sandwiches and samosas from passenger food trays handed out on flights, reports Soubhik Mitra.
Updated on May 28, 2009 02:26 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Soubhik Mitra, Mumbai
A-I pilot refuses to travel economy class
On Monday morning, a pilot refused to travel economy class on a flight to Jeddah, delaying the flight by around four hours, reports Soubhik Mitra.
Updated on May 26, 2009 02:27 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Soubhik Mitra, Mumbai
Mystery switch triggers panic
The panic-stricken passengers had to wait for at least 10 hours at the Mumbai airport on Monday. A Oman Air flight from Muscat and bound for Chennai landed in the city under emergency conditions after a passenger spotted the suspicious-looking object in the toilet of the aircraft, reports Soubhik Mitra.
Updated on May 26, 2009 02:24 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Soubhik Mitra, Mumbai
AI to staff: Fly cheap, give up privileges
Arvind Jadhav, the newly-appointed Burdened with losses, Air India is making all its employees, from managers to top-rung executives, give up some of the privileges of the past.chairman and managing director, sent an e-mail to the staff asking them to travel economy class, reports Soubhik Mitra.
Updated on May 24, 2009 01:07 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Soubhik Mitra, Mumbai
AI to staff: Fly cheap, give up privileges
Burdened with losses, Air India is making all its employees, from managers to top-rung executives, give up some of the privileges of the past.
Updated on May 24, 2009 12:54 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Soubhik Mitra, Mumbai
Slowdown hits five-star hotels
If you took a frugal vacation last summer, it is time to make up for it, at no extra cost.
Updated on May 15, 2009 11:57 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Soubhik Mitra, Mumbai
Close shave for Mangalore-bound AI flyers
In the second such incident in a week, Mangalore-bound Air India flight IC 179 at Mumbai airport was pushed back against the aerobridge, putting 172 lives at risk, reports Soubhik Mitra.
Updated on May 06, 2009 01:19 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Soubhik Mitra, Mumbai
Tow tractor hits aircraft
Soon after boarding, passengers of a Mangalore-bound Air India plane met with an accident when the airline’s tow tractor pushed the airliner back, damaging its door and the aerobridge attached to it. Fortunately, none of the 172 passengers was hurt. Soubhik Mitra reports.
Updated on May 06, 2009 01:20 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Soubhik Mitra, Mumbai
New entrants on political bloc most googled
First-time politicians are grabbing more eyeballs virtually than young Turks. Google Trends shows that apart from political bigwigs, like LK Advani and Sonia Gandhi, new entrants are topping search lists. Shashi Tharoor, Chiranjeevi and Sanjay Dutt are among the top 10 most-searched politicians in the latest update. Soubhik Mitra reports.
Updated on Apr 27, 2009 01:07 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Soubhik Mitra, Mumbai
Fliers go to court over high air fares despite low fuel cost
Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) price in the year 2005 was Rs 36,761 and surcharge on your flight ticket was Rs 200. Now in the year 2009, ATF price is Rs 32,691 while surcharge on the same ticket is Rs 2,700. Air Passenger Association of India (APAI), a non-profit body that works in the interest of air travellers, has filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Madras High Court demanding an explanation. Soubhik Mitra reports.
Updated on Apr 25, 2009 02:51 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Soubhik Mitra, Mumbai
Chats solve language-related delays at city airport
Do you know why your flight was stuck on the runway the last time you flew out? It could have been because of your expat pilot’s inability to understand instructions in English from Air Traffic Control (ATC) officers, reports Soubhik Mitra.
Updated on Apr 16, 2009 01:29 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Soubhik Mitra, Mumbai
Safety may hit air pocket
With a staff shortage of 200 people, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation is hiring people employed by domestic carriers for the purpose of surveillance in its Air Safety Department, reports Soubhik Mitra.
Updated on Apr 13, 2009 01:52 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Soubhik Mitra, Mumbai
Pilots’ union boycotts Air India airhostess
The Indian Commercial Pilot Association (ICPA) — a Mumbai-based union body of Indian pilots — has boycotted Monica Chalan, an airhostess with the airline based in Bangalore, on grounds of indiscipline, reports Soubhik Mitra.
Updated on Apr 08, 2009 01:24 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Soubhik Mitra, Mumbai
Promised jobs abroad, they landed in jail
Milan Pardesi (name changed on request), an unemployed youth from Uttar Pradesh, sold off his ancestral land to go to Dubai, where he was promised a job. He landed up in a Mumbai jail instead, reports Soubhik Mitra.
Updated on Apr 07, 2009 01:25 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Soubhik Mitra, Mumbai
Woman claims she was molested by purser on near-empty flight
A young woman passenger travelling in a virtually empty flight has complained that she was at the receiving at the hands of a flight attendant last week, reports Soubhik Mitra.
Updated on Apr 07, 2009 12:44 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Soubhik Mitra, Mumbai
From April, hi-tech system to protect airport
From April, the country’s busiest airport, which is surrounded by slums, would begin the installation of Perimeter Intrusion Detection System (PIDS), reports Soubhik Mitra.
Updated on Mar 28, 2009 01:39 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Soubhik Mitra, Mumbai
Airline sacks expat pilot for drinking
Three days after two pilots of low-cost carrier SpiceJet tested positive for alcohol, the airline sacked one of them, an expat, on Wednesday, reports Soubhik Mitra.
Updated on Mar 26, 2009 01:59 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Soubhik Mitra, Mumbai
2 Spicejet pilots fail alcohol test
On March 22, two pilots working with low-cost carrier Spicejet tested positive for alchohol in Delhi and Mumbai, respectively. Both were found drunk a few minutes before scheduled take-off of their flights.
Updated on Mar 25, 2009 01:57 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Soubhik Mitra, Mumbai
High-flyers want to shed their wings
Private jet owners are desperate to sell the aircraft they acquired when the economy was booming. But as with other big-ticket luxury products, there are few takers.
Updated on Mar 22, 2009 01:06 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Soubhik Mitra, Mumbai
High-flyers want to shed their wings
Private jet owners are desperate to sell the aircraft they acquired when the economy was booming. But as with other big-ticket luxury products, there are few takers, reports Soubhik Mitra. Crash-landing
Updated on Mar 21, 2009 01:39 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Soubhik Mitra, Mumbai
Bullets, ballots and rock ’n’ roll
Ballots and bullets are the new mantras for some rock bands in Mumbai, who are using contemporary issues such as elections and terror attacks to entice young audiences.
Updated on Mar 14, 2009 02:09 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Soubhik Mitra, Mumbai