Indian operator Kingfisher Airlines has resumed the sale of tickets for flights from Oct. 12 despite orders from the country’s aviation regulator to suspend all reservations until the grounded carrier has complied with safety inspections.

NEW DELHI — The Indian air force (IAF) soon will have determined the winner of its heavy-lift helicopter competition, based on lifecycle costs, and the winner should be decided within a few months, according to a senior defense ministry official. The contenders are Boeing’s CH-47F Chinook and Russia’s Mi-26. The IAF already operates four Mi-26s Meanwhile, IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal N.A.K. Browne on Oct. 5 said 75% of the IAF’s modernization program will be complete by 2022.

India’s airline regulator has given Kingfisher Airlines, which has been grounded since Sept. 30 by an employee strike demanding months of unpaid wages, two weeks to prove it should retain its operating certificate. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Friday issued a warning to the airline “asking why its permit should not be canceled or suspended, as the airline has failed to establish a safe, efficient and reliable service,” a government official tells Aviation Week.