State owned Air India will get compensation from Boeing for the period till Boeing 787 Dreamliner stays grounded. AI grounded all six planes of its Dreamliner fleet on Thursday morning after a global directive from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to airlines flying the 50-odd aircraft around the world. The planes will be back in service only after being cleared by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Even if the grounding is for short time, the compensation would be sought and the calculation of the compensation will take into consideration daily number of flights operated, passenger load factors and average fares of those flights, as confirmed by a senior aviation ministry official.
In an interview with Business Standard, civil aviation minister, Ajit Singh, did not rule out claiming compensation. He said, “We expect if an aircraft causes a commercial problem, Boeing would have to compensate. At this point, we are not clear about how serious the problem is, what the commercial implications are and how long it will take. If we say anything now, it would be speculation.”
Air India will begin inspection of its six Boeing 787 Dreamliners from next Tuesday once it receives guidelines from Federal Aviation Administration.
According to AI sources, “Boeing is expected to send inspection guidelines also called service bulletin to FAA. The FAA approved guidelines are expected by Tuesday.”Each Boeing 787 has two batteries and the inspection will be carried out at Air India hangar in Mumbai to examine if there is a flaw or manufacturing defect in them.
A senior executive of Air India said, “It will take 24 hours to inspect batteries in each plane and findings will be shared with the DGCA and the FAA. If there is no defect the planes will be redeployed on receiving a clearance from the regulator. However if a defect is found the batteries may need replacement and that will delay restoration of Boeing 787 operations.”
Air India flew Boeing 787s on three domestic and three international routes. In a statement issued by Air India : The airline is deploying a Boeing 747-400 plane on Delhi-Dubai route and is clubbing the Paris and Frankfurt using a Boeing 777.
Air India will have to face operational challenges also. Air India has about 80 pilots who are trained to fly the Boeing 787. With the Boeing 787 grounded the airline will have to deploy Boeing 777s on Frankfurt and Paris routes and airbus A320 for its domestic flights. The pilots from 787 fleet cannot be utilized to fly an another aircraft type unless they undergo refresher course (simulator training and route checks) for the particular plane (Boeing 777 for instance).
FAA issued the emergency directives following two incidents involving a lithium ion battery in the plane. "The battery failures resulted in release of flammable electrolytes, heat damage, and smoke on two Model 787 airplanes. The root cause of these failures is currently under investigation. These conditions, if not corrected, could result in damage to critical systems and structures, and the potential for fire in the electrical compartment," FAA said in a release.