Mumbai: Air India has deferred inducting the 17th Dreamliner into its fleet as the aircraft experienced tech nical trouble in Charleston, South Carolina in the United States during test flight on September 24, forcing a team of four AI pilots to return to Mumbai without the airplane.
This is the second such glitch in the procurement process: In July, another team of pilots and engineers had to leave behind the 16th Dreamliner at the Seattle headquarters of Boeing, which manufactures the aircraft."During a test flight, it developed an engine problem due to a crack. Given the issue, Air India did not take possession of the Dreamliner," a Boeing official said.
The Air India team, which was on board the pre-delivery test flights, flew to Delhi and then Mumbai on September 26 as the new plane was sent back to the factory to rectify certain major technical issues, airline officials said. The national carrier has ordered 27 of these airplanes and 16 have been inducted into its fleet. AI expects deliveries of three more by the end of the year. "Of the 16 owned by Air India, seven are dry-leased," an airline spokesperson said, referring to a common practice in commercial aviation, as part of which the airline only operates the aircraft, while crew, maintenance and other operations are outsourced to another operator.
01/10/14 Aditya Anand/Mumbai Mirror
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This is the second such glitch in the procurement process: In July, another team of pilots and engineers had to leave behind the 16th Dreamliner at the Seattle headquarters of Boeing, which manufactures the aircraft."During a test flight, it developed an engine problem due to a crack. Given the issue, Air India did not take possession of the Dreamliner," a Boeing official said.
The Air India team, which was on board the pre-delivery test flights, flew to Delhi and then Mumbai on September 26 as the new plane was sent back to the factory to rectify certain major technical issues, airline officials said. The national carrier has ordered 27 of these airplanes and 16 have been inducted into its fleet. AI expects deliveries of three more by the end of the year. "Of the 16 owned by Air India, seven are dry-leased," an airline spokesperson said, referring to a common practice in commercial aviation, as part of which the airline only operates the aircraft, while crew, maintenance and other operations are outsourced to another operator.
01/10/14 Aditya Anand/Mumbai Mirror
