Around 10 narrow body aircraft of Air India (AI) always remain grounded
due to maintenance and aircraft-on-ground (AOG)—problems that are
serious enough to prevent an aircraft from flying.
The carrier has a fleet of 62 narrow body aircraft—the backbone of domestic air travel. The officials said that three narrow body aircraft are more than 20 years old, and have reached their maximum age, technically called the design service goals.
The planes that are a part of the Boeing A320 family were expected to fly 60,000 hours. The hours that the Air India planes have flown are estimated to cross one lakh hours. The planes have been given an additional dispensation of two years, which means the aircraft manufacturer will provide extended maintenance for two years.“The maintenance schedule becomes tighter,” said officials.
Including the three planes, one-third of the Air India’s fleet has an average age of 18.5 years, which cause more frequent maintenance, compared to new ones resulting in planes being grounded—at an average of 10 planes every day. If a third of the fleet, which is Air India’s agony is left out, the average age of the fleet comes down to seven years.As reported by FE earlier, Air India is looking at leasing 19 aircraft, which was expected to come by 2016.
Read news in full 27/07/15 Sunny Sen/The Financial Express
The carrier has a fleet of 62 narrow body aircraft—the backbone of domestic air travel. The officials said that three narrow body aircraft are more than 20 years old, and have reached their maximum age, technically called the design service goals.
The planes that are a part of the Boeing A320 family were expected to fly 60,000 hours. The hours that the Air India planes have flown are estimated to cross one lakh hours. The planes have been given an additional dispensation of two years, which means the aircraft manufacturer will provide extended maintenance for two years.“The maintenance schedule becomes tighter,” said officials.
Including the three planes, one-third of the Air India’s fleet has an average age of 18.5 years, which cause more frequent maintenance, compared to new ones resulting in planes being grounded—at an average of 10 planes every day. If a third of the fleet, which is Air India’s agony is left out, the average age of the fleet comes down to seven years.As reported by FE earlier, Air India is looking at leasing 19 aircraft, which was expected to come by 2016.
Read news in full 27/07/15 Sunny Sen/The Financial Express
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