National carrier Air India’s six Boeing 787 aircraft, which are currently grounded, will start getting retrofitted with new battery units from end-March with the process likely to be completed by the third week of April, Arun Mishra, director general of civil aviation told FE.
Following the installing of new battery units, the carrier can once again start flying the fuel-efficient aircraft, which had been grounded by the US’ Federal Aviation Administration in January.
?A team from DGCA met FAA officials, Boeing officials and some operators on March 1,? said Mishra. ?They have found a solution to the problem and they will start retrofitting the planes from end-March.?
?The problem is that there are some delays in manufacturing so the whole process is likely to be completed only by the third week of April,? he added. The Boeing 787s were grounded in mid-January by the FAA after fire risks emerged due to the overheating of the lithium ion batteries. The 787 used lithium-ion batteries to consume five times more electricity than other conventional jets.
The technology helps reduce fuel consumption as using batteries means less power is drawn from the engines to keep the other components of the plane running. The aircraft was critical to Air India’s turnaround plan due to its 20% less fuel consumption. Air India has already issued a tender in an attempt to sell part of its Boeing 777 fleet and replace them with the Boeing 787s.
Before being grounded, the 787s had been deployed on the Delhi-Paris and Delhi-Frankfurt route while other 787s were also flying on some domestic routes to give the pilots ample training before flying internationally.
Air India has taken a bridge loan of $695 million to buy the six 787 Dreamliners. The airline was seeking to sale and leaseback the planes to repay the loans. The sale and leaseback plan faced a hiccup following the grounding of the planes but is expected to take off again after it is given the go ahead to fly. The planes have a list price of $207 million.
