Boeing crisis hits India, air fares to shoot up
|
Shivaji Sarkar
Contd from previous issue
The Max planes which Air India wants to buy, Boeing says, would have to rework about 50 of the undelivered planes because of incorrectly drilled holes in 22 fuselages or the larger outer shell that encompasses the main aircraft body. It is a new production glitch that could slow deliveries further. Various FAA safety inspections would periodically stop the production line. The FAA says that it would allow the variant of the 737 Max 9 with the door plug to fly again – after demanding checks to the bolts on every plane.
The family of two MAX victims want Boeing to face a criminal trial and pay fine of $ 24.8 billion. They are against plea bargaining saying this was just a reworking of “letting Boeing off the hook”.
In such situation, hope of Air India Express and Akasa getting their deliveries do not look bright. Questions arise how the two airlines agreed to the deal of MAX, which still have not cleared safety issues. China has reportedly cancelled some of its bookings.
Amid such situations in June, 2022, Tata Sons signed agreement during the Paris Air Show for 20 Boeing Dreamliners, 10 Boeing 777X widebody aircraft, and 190 Boeing 737 MAX narrow body aircraft along with 250 Euro Airbus for $ 70 billion, according to Tata Sons and Air India chairman N Chandrashekharan.
In June 2023, IndiGo made the world’s largest aircraft order by signing a deal for 500 A320 neo family planes from Airbus. Indigo is expecting some Airbus 320 deliveries. But that would not suffice the needs of the growing number of passengers. Indigo is set to ground many aircraft. So would Spicejet, which met with a number of security issues. The delays, which are said to be unavoidable, would create shortage of aircraft almost with all major airlines, Indigo, Spicejet, Akasa and Air India. The Jet Airways and Go First have gone bankrupt adding to the shortage. The Boeing crisis could hit India hard with Air India and Akasa having fewer aircraft and an overall shortage of seats for domestic and international routes spiralling fares. To be contd
Contd from previous issue
The Max planes which Air India wants to buy, Boeing says, would have to rework about 50 of the undelivered planes because of incorrectly drilled holes in 22 fuselages or the larger outer shell that encompasses the main aircraft body. It is a new production glitch that could slow deliveries further. Various FAA safety inspections would periodically stop the production line. The FAA says that it would allow the variant of the 737 Max 9 with the door plug to fly again – after demanding checks to the bolts on every plane.
The family of two MAX victims want Boeing to face a criminal trial and pay fine of $ 24.8 billion. They are against plea bargaining saying this was just a reworking of “letting Boeing off the hook”.
In such situation, hope of Air India Express and Akasa getting their deliveries do not look bright. Questions arise how the two airlines agreed to the deal of MAX, which still have not cleared safety issues. China has reportedly cancelled some of its bookings.
Amid such situations in June, 2022, Tata Sons signed agreement during the Paris Air Show for 20 Boeing Dreamliners, 10 Boeing 777X widebody aircraft, and 190 Boeing 737 MAX narrow body aircraft along with 250 Euro Airbus for $ 70 billion, according to Tata Sons and Air India chairman N Chandrashekharan.
In June 2023, IndiGo made the world’s largest aircraft order by signing a deal for 500 A320 neo family planes from Airbus. Indigo is expecting some Airbus 320 deliveries. But that would not suffice the needs of the growing number of passengers. Indigo is set to ground many aircraft. So would Spicejet, which met with a number of security issues. The delays, which are said to be unavoidable, would create shortage of aircraft almost with all major airlines, Indigo, Spicejet, Akasa and Air India. The Jet Airways and Go First have gone bankrupt adding to the shortage. The Boeing crisis could hit India hard with Air India and Akasa having fewer aircraft and an overall shortage of seats for domestic and international routes spiralling fares. To be contd