India’s public sector airline Air India has been forced to ground 20 planes out of its fleet of 127 because of lack of sufficient funds to replace their engines.
PTI reported that an Air India official said that at least Rs 1,500 crore is required to replace the engines on the 20 planes. As the airline does not expect the funds anytime soon, the airplanes are grounded for the foreseeable future.
The company which is running at a loss has a fleet of 127 planes. Out of these 45 are big airplanes (27 Boeing 787 and 18 Boeing 777) and there is one Airbus A320.
The official reportedly said, “As many as 20 of our planes are out of operations since late last year due to engine issues. That means almost 16 percent of our fleet is down. These planes must be fitted with new engines, which will require around Rs 1,500 crore,”
He said that the stalled planes require new engines which will cost a total of Rs. 1,500 crore. The grounded planes are— fourteen A3230, four B787-800 (Dreamliner) and two B-777.
The official added that the airline has been trying to get the planes in the air since 2018. However, due to lack of funds it is unlikely that these planes will take off before October 2019.
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It may be noted that in August 2018 Indian Commercial Pilot Association (ICPA) had alleged that 19 Air India planes were not being operated due to insufficient funds. Hence, the airline was losing money. However then Air India chief Pradeep Singh Kharola had said they were grounded due to regular maintenance work. Kharola has since then been appointed as the Civil Aviation secretary.
(With PTI inputs)