Seeking to set right the continued glitches in the operation of the state-of-the-art plans, Boeing has prepared a “modification package” for B-787 Dreamliner aircraft being flown by Air India on domestic and international routes.
Minister of State for Civil Aviation, K.C. Venugopal informed Rajya Sabha on Tuesday that a modification package has been prepared for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. Air India is constantly in contact with Boeing on the issue of Technical Reliability of the Dreamliner fleet. The Boeing technical team has been involved in root cause analysis and in evolving the remedial measures.
Accordingly, a reliability enhancement modification package consisting of upgrades to aircraft software and components has been prepared. A Boeing team has arrived to check at Air India Mumbai facility to undertake these modifications. The modification is being sequentially carried out on each of the Dreamliner aircraft during a10-day maintenance grounding which has already begun.
The Dreamliner fleet that the national carrier possesses has been faced with recurring issues totaling around 136 minor technical problems in the past 14 months. According to Civil Aviation Minister, Ajit Singh, both Air India and Boeing teams have joined hands to sort out the issues faced by the Dreamliners on various occasions.
Air India, on November 6, flew in its tenth Dreamliner from Seattle. The national carrier has placed orders for 27 Dreamliners. Even Air India’s inaugural Dreamliner flight on September 18 last year was riddled with minor problems in the plane’s air conditioning. Due to the grounding of Dreamliners earlier this year, Air India had incurred additional direct or indirect expenditure of Rs. 60 lakh per day, due to substitution of other aircraft on its route and an extra cost of Rs. 1.43 crore per day, for aircraft financing and pilot maintenance.
