AI's jumbo send-off after jumbo spend

Mumbai: By the first week of January, the iconic jumbo jet with its distinct hump-like upper deck will no longer be a part of Air India’s fleet.
The Boeing 747-400 , first inducted in 1993, will be phased out by the airline for its low fuel-efficiency . Just four years back though, Air India spent Rs 200 crore on refurbishing the very same fuel-guzzling aircraft , changing almost everything but the fuselage.
At that time it justified the investment saying it planned to keep the six Boeing 747-400 s in its fleet in the air till 2016 and spent Rs 50 crore each on completely refurbishing four of these aircraft. In fact, the first of the quartet joined the fleet as recently as June 2007.
Yet two years later, the airline is all set to junk them, a decision which is just another example of the bad planning that has left Air India’s balance sheet bleeding. Ironically, just last month the company was planning salary cuts for 7,000 management staff to save Rs 20 crore per month, an idea it was forced to give up after massive employee agitations.
The B-747s did medium and long-haul flights to destinations like Riyadh, Newark, Tokyo, Jeddah . The refurbishment programme , approved by the board of Air India, cost Rs 50 crore per B747-400 and included cabin interior upgradation, installation of latest in-flight entertainment system with audio and video on demand, improvement in cabin lighting, replacement and upgradation of existing galleys, toilets etc.
“One can say that except the fuselage, everything was changed. The changes were so comprehensive that the Air India had to get a Supplemental Type Certificate from Boeing, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Director General of Civil Aviation,’’ said the source.
28/10/09 Manju V/Times of India

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Categories: NACIL Oct 2009