The Boeing Company may pay Air India up to $150 million a month as penalty for delays in delivering the 27 Boeing 787 Dreamliners ordered in 2006. The orders were worth about $5.5 billion.
The national carrier had booked 68 aircraft from US plane-maker in a $11-billion (list price) order, which included the 27 Dreamliners. But Boeing has been unable to push in the new-age airplane into commercial operations due to delays in production.
?Usually Boeing pays around $100 million for a six-month delay,? an analyst said, ?but the size of the order and the loss of revenue to Air India is much larger than normal circumstances,? he added.
The national carrier will have to wait till July 2009 before the first Dreamliner joins its fleet. The original plan for delivery was September 2008.
The B787s were to be used by Air India for capacity addition, and as replacement for some old aircraft. The delay has thrown a wrench into these plans.
The two firms are in talks to work out the modalities of the deal for compensation after Air India asked for compensation and Boeing agreed to it. Air India plans to lease about 15 aircraft in the next 12 months to augment its fleet.
According to sources, Air India is pushing for a reimbursement of the payment it would make for leasing aircraft. The other option was to go in for a dollar day payment that would take into account the currency fluctuations.
Analysts said that leasing wide-bodied aircraft in the present market conditions could cost Air India around $10 million per month per aircraft, leading to the public carrier forwarding a huge bill to The Boeing Company.