Leasing to begin next month after arrival of 787 Dreamliners
Cash-strapped carrier Air India is looking to offer a few of its Boeing 777 aircraft fleet for lease due to scarcity of pilots. The leasing process would start later next month after the firm receives three Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft later this month, an Air India official said.
The national carrier will restart some of its abandoned ultra-long haul operations to New Jersey, Toronto and Newark where the 777s fly with the more fuel-efficient 787 fleet by next month to save costs. The company has a fleet of 17 777 aircraft but most of them are grounded due to the strike as pilots have not reported to duty for the past month. “We are looking to use the Dreamliner 787 in international routes where flying the 777 is profitably unviable. We will put some of the 777 aircraft on lease as they are already grounded,” an Air India official said. The firm is currently training batches of pilots to be able to fly the modern 787 wide-body aircraft.
Through lease, the firm is expected to recover a significant chunk of the Rs 350 crore operational losses it had to incur due to the month long strike by 420 pilots belonging to the de-recognised Indian pilots guild (IPG). “We are not looking to wet lease aircraft as earlier planned since we are ready to receive the Dreamliner 787 aircraft,” the official said.
The firm was earlier looking to wet lease aircraft (along with cabin crew and fuel) to restart flights on seven curtailed international routes.
Air India is expected to also resume routes to Hong Kong, Osaka and Seoul by August this year. The carrier’s operation to these routes had been curtailed last month due to striking section of pilots. The firm is currently operating on 38 of the total of 45 international operations. Operating the 777 on several international routes was unviable as it was associated with high costs due to maintenance and fuel charges, the official said.
On account of the existing grounded fleet of 777, Air India is still losing Rs 5 crore per day on account of tickets, parking and maintenance charges.
The national carrier will restart some of its abandoned ultra-long haul operations to New Jersey, Toronto and Newark where the 777s fly with the more fuel-efficient 787 fleet by next month to save costs. The company has a fleet of 17 777 aircraft but most of them are grounded due to the strike as pilots have not reported to duty for the past month. “We are looking to use the Dreamliner 787 in international routes where flying the 777 is profitably unviable. We will put some of the 777 aircraft on lease as they are already grounded,” an Air India official said. The firm is currently training batches of pilots to be able to fly the modern 787 wide-body aircraft.
Through lease, the firm is expected to recover a significant chunk of the Rs 350 crore operational losses it had to incur due to the month long strike by 420 pilots belonging to the de-recognised Indian pilots guild (IPG). “We are not looking to wet lease aircraft as earlier planned since we are ready to receive the Dreamliner 787 aircraft,” the official said.
The firm was earlier looking to wet lease aircraft (along with cabin crew and fuel) to restart flights on seven curtailed international routes.
Air India is expected to also resume routes to Hong Kong, Osaka and Seoul by August this year. The carrier’s operation to these routes had been curtailed last month due to striking section of pilots. The firm is currently operating on 38 of the total of 45 international operations. Operating the 777 on several international routes was unviable as it was associated with high costs due to maintenance and fuel charges, the official said.
On account of the existing grounded fleet of 777, Air India is still losing Rs 5 crore per day on account of tickets, parking and maintenance charges.
