Air India’s fourth Boeing 777-200LR, scheduled for delivery in the second week of December, has not reached the airline. A shortage of commanders for the new generation aircraft will probably delay it further.
“Air-India could not take deliveries of two of its 777LRs from the manufacturer on time because it did not have enough pilots to fly these aircraft,” said a pilot with the airline on condition of anonymity.
The national carrier finds itself in a situation where deliveries are underway for its Rs 35,000-crore order for 69 aircraft (eight B777-200LRs, 16 777–300ERs, 27 787 Dreamliners and 18 B737-800s). Air-India has only 22 commanders to fly the B777 family of aircraft.
Air-India refused to confirm the number. “The entire delivery schedule for the 777LRs has been awkwardly planned by Air-India. There is an acute shortage of pilots as well as engineers trained for the aircraft,” sources close to the developments said, adding: “The airline is now into a major training spree both for its pilots as well as its engineers. But it is impacting the operational schedules of the airline.”
22/12/03, Manisha Singhal/Business Standard
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