A
Chocks-on Weekender 28 DEC., 2013
What a Pity ?? The B-777-200……
It is still
fresh in our memory. The Launch of Direct Non-Stop flights to JFK. The pomp and
pageantry was epic. Times Square in New York carried the hoarding of this grand
launch ! Special in-flight amenities were developed for passengers travelling
on these flights. In one stroke, the then CMD abolished First Class travel to
staff on these flights, to maintain its exclusivity……
And now this
aircraft has become junk ? The enormous waste of public money, is vulgar, to
say the least. There are airlines that are still flying this equipment. So much
so, that Etihad is planning to deploy it as a non stop service to Los Angeles.
Where we failed, others succeeded. Would it then be right to BLAME the
aircraft, OR the blame is on………….!!!
Read on for an
insight into this fiscal profligacy of Air India….
( This is where, I
feel, Jitender Bhargava has done a
yeoman service to Air India and Air Indians by publishing his book, The Descent of Air India, a chronicle of all that drove Air
India to the brink. )
Air India top guns Boeing 777-200 LR to be sold for scrap Sanjay Singh New
Delhi Last Updated: December 28, 2013
The throwaway price at which national carrier
Air India (AI) has decided to sell its five Boeing 777-200 LR (long range)
planes to Etihad Airways has raised eyebrows.
The planes, purchased just six years ago,
will be sold for a meagre Rs 2,135 crore, which works out to Rs 427 crore per
plane.
The price at which the Maharaja will sell
the planes is a mere one third of Rs 1,400 crore spent on purchasing each.
AI is reported to have lined up another
three Boeing 777-200 LRs in its fleet for sale after it got the government nod
to sell the other five. The Boeing 777 LRs were meant to fly for the next 25
years, then- civil aviation minister Praful Patel had told the government in
August 2004, when the deal was finalised for ordering 111 Boeings and Airbus
for the national carrier.
According to officials in the civil aviation
ministry and AI pilots " there is no logic as to why an airline will sell
off and not lease these planes, which are only six years old". It is an
asset to have any new aircraft as Boeing or Airbus will deliver their aircraft
to any airline in a minimum of two to three years, they said.
Interestingly, Etihad has already announced
plans to deploy these AI aircraft on longhaul routes like Abu Dhabi- Los
Angeles from June 2014. "When Etihad can use these Boeing 777- LRs on its
crucial routes why can't Air India do the same instead of selling these planes
at throwaway prices," an AI pilot said. Even Japan Airlines has withdrawn
its Boeing 787 Dreamliners on the Delhi- Tokyo route and replaced them with
Boeing 777s.
"The Boeing 777 LR is a beautiful
aircraft. It can fly non- stop for 9,395 nautical miles (NM) while Dreamliners
can fly only 8,200 NM. The Boeing 777- 200 LR can also accommodate more
passengers (305) than a Dreamliner, which can carry only 240- 250 passengers,"
said a pilot who flies Boeing 777- LRs.
AI has termed the Boeing 777- LRs as fuel
guzzlers while an actual comparison shows that the difference in fuel
consumption between the aircraft and a Dreamliner is not much.
With this we sign off for the Year 2013.
Wishing you all – A Very Happy New Year - 2014 !
Our Credo….”Network
& Be Informed “
