Air India to Push Through With Dreamliners' Delivery

Monday, 16th April 2012 at 04:42am

Air India is set to claim the 27 Dreamliner planes it put on order from Boeing Co. despite the country's flag carrier suffering from financial woes.

India's aviation minister, Ajit Singh believes the Dreamliners are good quality planes for Air India, which has been trying to dig itself out of its money problems by increasing the number of its flight departures and launching its low-cost domestic route operations. Singh further said the beleaguered airline will not be suspending or canceling any orders.

As part of a 111-plane order worth $15 billion, Air India placed an order for the 27 Dreamliners from Boeing in 2005 and Airbus in 2006. It is now ready to receive the delivery of the Dreamliners and three 777 passenger aircraft.

It may take Air India up to three years to induct all the Dreamliners after it receives its first delivery by May. Seven of the aircraft are scheduled to be inducted by the end of March 2013.

Troubled by the escalating costs of fuel and interests, Air India also suffers from a glut of employees, obligatory routes to loss-inducing destinations, and a mismanaged merger with former national carrier, Indian Airlines.

The latter has caused huge losses for Air India since the merger in 2007, despite the government infusing as much as 32 billion rupees ($638.7 million) in equity, and earmarking 40 billion more rupees for the airline for April 1 of this financial year.

While Air India has postponed the delivery of its order for the 777 aircraft, it will push through with its induction of the 27 Dreamliners in the hope of improving its operations. The more fuel-efficient Dreamliners are set to replace the flag carrier's older fuel guzzlers.

India's government had earlier been mulling over reducing the number of Dreamliners on order, but finally acceded to Air India's premise that the Dreamliners would be of valuable use for the national carrier's operations.

Due to technical hitches the Boeing Dreamliner project was pushed back by a few years, and the delay points toward due recompense from the aircraft manufacturer to Air India and its customers. However, Boeing and Air India have yet to hammer out the details of the reimbursement.

Air India earlier released a statement that it had plans of selling the Dreamliners to leasing companies for much-needed cash, while renting them back from these companies for the airline's use.

By: Pete Lee.