Air India, under the Indian government was completely different than what it is today. Just a couple of years back, before the Tata’s took over the flag carrier, several of Air India’s planes were grounded due to lack of adequate funding for the required spares.
As the Tata’s took over the reins of Air India, began the process of ungrounding of planes and routes expansion. But there was a lot of effort behind reviving the fleet that was grounded for years. Speaking about the challenges in reviving the B787 fleet, at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) AGM in Istanbul the Chief Executive, Campbell Wilson said that there were about 13 grounded B787s and as many as 30,000 spares were needed to make these aircraft airworthy again.
Wilson also spoke about the need of a reliable and efficient MRO to maintain the existing and incoming fleet. “Air India need to have a bit more capability in-house. The airline uses Air India Engineering Services Ltd (AIESL) for its maintenance needs and has also built its own engineering capabilities since becoming a private player.”
The airline is now keen acquiring the government-owned AIESL.
The airline could partner with Lufthansa Technik and Air France-KLM’s engineering department to bid for AIESL. Singapore Airlines will also likely join the consortium through SIA Engineering Company Limited.