Air India will ink a compensation agreement with aircraft manufacturer Boeing by the end of this month, said civil aviation ministry officials. “The agreement will be signed for the ‘fuel burnt guarantee’ of the Dreamliners that the American aircraft maker has been delivering,” the officials added.
A committee constituted to look into the reports will be involved in making and finalising the agreement. “The committee is looking into the Dreamliners’ performance. For the 19 planes that have already been delivered, the reports are ready. For the 20th plane, which was delivered in April, the report will come within a week’s time,” said the officials.
Boeing will deliver seven more Dreamliners to India’s national carrier. An upgrade to a higher version of has been canned as it was not commercially viable.
Phone calls and a text to Pratyush Kumar, president of Boeing India, went unanswered.
Boeing had signed a contract with Air India for 27 B-787-8 aircraft, whose delivery started in September 2012. Since then, the planes have witnessed numerous delays because of technical snags such as software glitches and other problems like windshield cracks, valve failure, oil loss and TCAS (Traffic Collision Avoidance System) failure.
Though Mahesh Sharma, minister of state for civil aviation and tourism, had said in December 2014 that the Amercian manufacturer will not give any compensation, things can change with the formation of the new committee, which will meet next week to discuss Boeing’s commitments and reports on the fuel burnt guarantee.
Fuel burnt guarantee is directly related to the aircraft’s efficiency. As per the International Air Transport Association, “Each kilogram of fuel saved reduces carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 3.16 kg. So the key for airlines to minimise their environmental impact is to use fuel more efficiently.” IATA also mentioned that new airlines are 20% more fuel-efficient that their counterparts a decade back. “Modern aircraft achieve fuel efficiencies of 3.5 litres per 100 passenger km… The A380 and B787 are aiming for 3 liters per 100 passenger km — better than a compact car.”
Reports say that all international routes flown by Dreamliners were loss-making. Losses stood at Rs 1,800 crore in the 10 months ending January. In 2014-15 Air India posted a loss of Rs 5,400 crore.