Feb 10, 2017: Air India has acquired 23 ‘Dreamliners’ progressively from September 2012 to January, 2017. The Dreamliner aircraft have experienced technical reliability issues, since induction into Air India fleet. These issues, however, do not adversely affect the safety of the airplane due to the system design and in-built system redundancy. Further, regular improvements are incorporated as a part of reliability enhancement process.
One B787-8 aircraft will be delivered in July 2017, two B787-8 aircraft in August 2017 and the 27th B787-8 aircraft will be delivered in October 2017.
Air India continuously monitors the market developments, performance of its flights and carries out studies with an objective to withdraw, to introduce new routes or increase or decrease frequency on existing routes. Air India has withdrawn flights which were not meeting their fuel and variable cost. However, Air India analyses the reasons for the losses and based on the strategic importance of such services to its network arrives at a decision whether to continue or withdraw such services. While determining the desirability or otherwise of discontinuing services of loss making services, Air India takes into account the revenue contributions made by the subject services to its other services by way of feeder traffic. As such non-profitability of any one flight is not taken in isolation as the sole barometer of its financial performance.
The Government had approved a Turnaround Plan (TAP) / Financial restructuring Plan (FRP) for operational and financial turnaround of Air India. The TAP/FRP provides equity infusion of Rs 30,231 crore upto 2021 subject to achievement of certain milestones as laid down in the TAP/FRP. The Company has made substantial progress in both Operational as well as Financial Areas as per TAP milestones. As a part of the Turnaround Strategy for Air India Ltd., the company with the overall support of the Government has initiated a number of steps in order to cut costs and losses.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha.