Close X
Monday, March 18, 2024
ADVT 
India

Many Air India Dreamliners Lying Idle As Airline Faces Staff Crunch

Darpan News Desk IANS, 11 Sep, 2018 07:49 PM
    National carrier Air India is under utilising its flagship Boeing Dreamliner fleet, due to flight crew shortage as well as technical issues with only 21 planes being deployed for operations every day, an airline source said.
     
     
    Air India has 27 Boeing 787-800 (Dreamliner) aircraft in its fleet at present.
     
     
    The 256-seater Boeing 787 is majorly used for carrying out airline's European operations besides catering its services to Singapore, Japan, Australia, China, Thailand, Israel, South Korea and Dubai.
     
     
    Besides, some of the flights on key domestic trunk routes like Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi-Chennai and Delhi-Kolkata are also operated by the Dreamliner.
     
     
    "Of the 27 planes, three are on ground due to want of spares, while three are being used on a rotational basis. So effectively, only 21 aircraft are in service on any given day," the source said, alleging that the under utilisation was due to scarcity of commanders.
     
     
    When contacted, an Air India official said that only three aircraft were on ground, while the rest 24 planes are servicing the various international and domestic routes.
     
     
    Airline's Airbus fleet pilots body, ICPA, had last month alleged that as many as 19 aircraft, including nine Airbus A321s, were not in service due to non-availability of spares and that it was resulting in a significant loss of revenue to the carrier besides flight cancellations. 
     
     
    "Almost 23 per cent of the Air India fleet is grounded for lack of spares. To put this into perspective, aircraft worth approximately USD 3.6 billion or approximately Rs. 25,000 crore (at todays list price) are lying idle in the hangars," the Indian Commercial Plots Association (ICPA) had alleged in a letter to airline chairman and managing director Pradeep Singh Kharola.
     
     
    Air India had, however, termed the grounding of planes for maintenance a common practice.

    MORE India ARTICLES

    Punjab Constitutes Special Investigation Team To Probe Sacrilege Cases

    Punjab Constitutes Special Investigation Team To Probe Sacrilege Cases
    Earlier, Kumar, 1988 batch IPS officer has served a long stint with the CBI, where he led investigation in high profile case like Telgi scam, Railgate, Agustawest land chopper purchased case.

    Punjab Constitutes Special Investigation Team To Probe Sacrilege Cases

    India To Cancel OCI Cards Of Sherin Mathews’ Foster Parents, Relatives

    India To Cancel OCI Cards Of Sherin Mathews’ Foster Parents, Relatives
    Toddler Sherin’s decomposed body was found in a culvert close to her home on October 22 last year, two weeks after her Indian-American foster parents reported her missing.

    India To Cancel OCI Cards Of Sherin Mathews’ Foster Parents, Relatives

    WATCH: Nagar Kirtan, Gatka Mark First Parkash Purab Of Sri Guru Granth Sahib

    Devotees in large numbers took part in the nagar kirtan held to commemorate the ‘first Parkash Purab of Sri Guru Granth Sahib’ (installation in Sri Harmandar Sahib in 1604) here on Monday.

    WATCH: Nagar Kirtan, Gatka Mark First Parkash Purab Of Sri Guru Granth Sahib

    SGPC's Sukhdev Singh Bhaur Arrested For Derogatory Remarks On Slain Dalit Sant

    SGPC's Sukhdev Singh Bhaur Arrested For Derogatory Remarks On Slain Dalit Sant
    Former general secretary of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) Sukhdev Singh Bhaur was on Friday arrested from Mohali town, adjoining Chandigarh, following a case registered against him for hurting religious sentiments of a community, police said.

    SGPC's Sukhdev Singh Bhaur Arrested For Derogatory Remarks On Slain Dalit Sant

    Indian-Origin 'Bogus Lawyer' HARVINDER KAUR THETHI, Treated As Sister By Victims, Jailed In UK

    Indian-Origin 'Bogus Lawyer' HARVINDER KAUR THETHI, Treated As Sister By Victims, Jailed In UK
    At a hearing on Thursday, Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith sentenced the 46-year-old to five years behind bars for each of the six counts, to run concurrently.

    Indian-Origin 'Bogus Lawyer' HARVINDER KAUR THETHI, Treated As Sister By Victims, Jailed In UK

    BJP Targets Navjot Singh Sidhu, Says Habit Of Congress To Praise Pakistan

    BJP Targets Navjot Singh Sidhu, Says Habit Of Congress To Praise Pakistan
    Congress leaders heap insults on the prime minister of India, but praise the prime minister of Pakistan, Shahnawaz Hussain said.

    BJP Targets Navjot Singh Sidhu, Says Habit Of Congress To Praise Pakistan