NEW DELHI: Almost a quarter of fund-starved
Air India's fleet is currently grounded and the airline is losing significant revenue due to this, say its pilots. While every airline has some planes grounded for regular schedule maintenance checks, in AI's case the figure is higher due to lack of spares caused by the crippling cash crunch.
The pilots also find it hard to believe that India's safety regulator DGCA has turned a blind eye to the site situation in AI and has not called for any clarification from the airline.
"Overall, almost 23% of the Air India fleet is grounded for lack of spares. Aircraft worth $3.6 billion or Rs 25,000 crore (at today’s list price) are lying idle in the hangar.... a significant number of flights are getting canceled/rescheduled on a daily basis. There are also aircraft fleet swaps which result in last minute change of inventory resulting in non-optimal revenue management and utilisation," the
Indian Commercial Pilots' Association (ICPA, union of erstwhile Indian Airlines' pilots) said in a letter to AI chairman P S Kharola on Sunday.
The airline's comments were sought on this issue. The story will be updated when AI management responds.
The union has given aircraft type-wise break-up of grounding.
"Of the 20 Airbus A-321 aircraft operated by AI, only 12 are available for operation on a daily basis currently. 40% of the Airbus A321 fleet is grounded at various stations for lack of spares. This aircraft is the workhorse of the domestic network operating on high-density routes and has the maximum seating capacity. Such a high percentage of this aircraft type being grounded is criminal at the very least! Considering the high seating capacity, there is a significant loss of revenue happening on a daily basis," ICPA says.
"Of the 22 Airbus A319 aircraft in the fleet, 4 aircraft are not available for operation. The Airbus A-320 fleet fairs better but only because it currently consists of a significant number of newly acquired Neo planes," it says.
The wide situation is "desperate". "Of the 15 Boeing 777-300 aircraft, 5 aircraft are in hangar. Of the 26 Boeing-787 aircrafts, 2 are grounded," the pilots say.
The union asks since the airline incurred massive debt to acquire these planes and finds it "impossible to pay interest, is there any reason why these aircraft continue to remain grounded?"
"All of this is having a significant impact on the bottom-line of Air India. Is our management unable to prioritize expenditure?" the letter says.
