Ahmedabad: Air India has decided to give up its state of the art aircraft Maintainence, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility in Nagpur after it was unable to convince its engineering staff to relocate. On Sunday, the airline invited bids from private players to run the Rs 600 crore facility. Air India first announced plans for the facility a decade ago, but the MRO was delayed because of an incomplete taxi-way. The repair unit was finally declared open by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari in June 2015.The facility has only received two Boeing 777 aircraft-- the first in May 2015 and the other last week.
An engineer working at the facility confirmed that most facility employees were hired on contract after retiring from Air India. "We are all put up at a hotel next to the facility. Since it was declared open there has not been much work," he said. Air India staff from Mumbai and Delhi have been unwilling to relocate to the facility, which is around 16 kilometres away from Nagpur. The MRO, spread over 50 acres, was built by Boeing at a cost of US$ 100 million. This was the result of an agreement between Air India and Boeing after the national carrier placed a massive order for dreamliners with Boeing in 2006.
10/02/16 Aditya Anand/Ahmedabad Mirror
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An engineer working at the facility confirmed that most facility employees were hired on contract after retiring from Air India. "We are all put up at a hotel next to the facility. Since it was declared open there has not been much work," he said. Air India staff from Mumbai and Delhi have been unwilling to relocate to the facility, which is around 16 kilometres away from Nagpur. The MRO, spread over 50 acres, was built by Boeing at a cost of US$ 100 million. This was the result of an agreement between Air India and Boeing after the national carrier placed a massive order for dreamliners with Boeing in 2006.
10/02/16 Aditya Anand/Ahmedabad Mirror
