Air India, Boeing negotiating compensation for 787 delays
24 May 2011
New Delhi/Mumbai: State-owned Air India said Monday it was in active negotiations with US commercial aircraft manufacturer, Boeing Co, for compensation arising from delays in the delivery of 27 futuristic B787 Dreamliner aircraft. As per the original delivery schedule some of these aircraft should already have been in service.
Senior AI officials confirmed that holding company NACIL (National Aviation Company of India Ltd) was in active negotiation with Boeing for compensation for the delay in deliveries.
According to the original schedule, deliveries were to have begun in the October-December quarter of 2010 but technical glitches forced the aircraft to undergo a further series of tests.
In February, Boeing finally confirmed that deliveries would begin in the fourth quarter of 2011.
AI officials said the delay had caused both opportunity and operational losses to the carrier as it had planned to deploy the B787s on long-haul international routes and re-deploy its B777 aircraft on domestic routes. The strategy was aimed at helping the carrier regain lost market share in both sectors.
A committee operating under EK Bharat Bhushan, who currently heads the directorate general of civil aviation, is apparently looking into the issue of delayed deliveries.
