
Boeing aircraft grounded before take-off in Lko
This was the second Boeing grounded before take-off at Lucknow airport in three days. On Sunday, Lucknow-Hyderabad Boeing 737 Max 8 (VT-BWP), operated by Air India Express, was grounded following a technical fault.
Wednesday's Lucknow-Dubai Air India Express flight (IX 193) was scheduled to take off at 8.45am and had 166 passengers and crew onboard. "Passengers were informed of the cancellation shortly after boarding," said a source at the airport, adding that the airline offered the passengers a ticket refund or a rescheduled journey with a free hotel stay. The 168-seater aircraft was over six years old and took its first flight in May 2019.

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Mint
2 days ago
- Mint
Better late than never: Air India Express takes delivery of its 50th MAX aircraft
In September 2023, Air India Express took delivery of its first MAX 8 aircraft from Boeing. The airline was an all-Boeing 737 NG operator until then. The delivery was possible within months of announcing the acquisition in February 2023 and formally signing it in July the same year in Paris because these airframes were manufactured for other carriers, mostly Chinese, but weren't taken up by their original owners amidst the global grounding of the MAX aircraft following two deadly crashes. The airline is now taking delivery of the 50th MAX 8, registered VT-BWV. At the ceremony to unveil the new livery of Air India Express, the management had talked about adding 50 new aircraft in 15 months. As the last one makes its way from the United States to India, it eventually took 21 months for the 50th aircraft to be delivered. In January 2022, when the Tata group took over Air India and Air India Express, the low-cost subsidiary, largely restricted to Gulf routes, had a fleet of 26 aircraft, all B737-800NGs. While the group has invested in merging its four airlines to form two airlines, one full service and one low cost, Air India Express has nearly quadrupled its fleet to cross 100 planes. The airline took nearly as many planes at the time of merger of AirAsia India into Air India Express, doubling the fleet. The airline also inducted planes from Air India, the parent entity. This includes A320neo and A321neo, which continue to be in the older Air India livery. A total of 50 planes have been delivered fresh from the factory, all being the MAX 8. The airline's next step will be two-pronged. The first is to convert its dual-class fleet with multiple LOPA (layout of passenger amenities) to a standard single-class offering. The second would see the airline phase out older planes, both Airbus and Boeing, and work towards having a fuel-efficient modern fleet, which will help it compete better with other low-cost carriers, starting with IndiGo. The machinist union at Boeing went on a strike last year, which lasted nearly two months. Not only were the deliveries impacted for those two months, it also had a cascading effect for a longer period, leading to a slippage of delivery schedule for all carriers. Air India Express became part of the delays, even though the airline has been taking delivery of the planes in the configuration meant for the original operator with the livery being painted in India. The parent Air India has been continuously delayed with its timelines for refurbishment. The airline had initially planned to refurbish all its legacy aircraft by 2025, but the first of the widebody will go for refurbishment only now. The airline has made a stop- gap arrangement with the Boeing 777s getting new carpets among other things before the reconfiguration begins next year. The delays have been attributed to supply chain constraints, but for an airline the size of Air India, it does not bode well to give multiple and repetitive guidance on the upgrades but not meet them. The supply chain constraints have been known across the aviation world and one then wonders if the announcements were genuine or not. Air India Express primarily focused on international routes pre-privatisation. Since then, the merger of erstwhile AirAsia India meant that they inherited a plethora of routes on the domestic segments. The airline then took over another set of routes from parent Air India. The group strategy seems to focus on having rapid induction for Air India Express to take on IndiGo on select domestic and international routes where there is IndiGo monopoly currently and in essence be the monopoly breakers with the matured routes which can sustain three-class operations being with Air India, which will complete its fleet wide reconfiguration for the narrowbody aircraft over the course of the next few months. This kind of growth was never seen by either Air India or Air India Express under government ownership. However, the event in Ahmedabad has dented the image of Air India and will take time to recover. When the demand picks up again post-October, the added capacity will be a boon for Air India Express. Better late than never!


Time of India
4 days ago
- Time of India
Boeing aircraft grounded before take-off in Lko
Lucknow: Another Boeing 737 Max 8 (VT-BXZ) aircraft, operated by Air India Express, was grounded minutes before take-off at Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport, Lucknow, on Wednesday after pilots declared a 'technical issue' while following the procedure to start the engine. This was the second Boeing grounded before take-off at Lucknow airport in three days. On Sunday, Lucknow-Hyderabad Boeing 737 Max 8 (VT-BWP), operated by Air India Express, was grounded following a technical fault. Wednesday's Lucknow-Dubai Air India Express flight (IX 193) was scheduled to take off at 8.45am and had 166 passengers and crew onboard. "Passengers were informed of the cancellation shortly after boarding," said a source at the airport, adding that the airline offered the passengers a ticket refund or a rescheduled journey with a free hotel stay. The 168-seater aircraft was over six years old and took its first flight in May 2019.
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Business Standard
4 days ago
- Business Standard
Air India finds 'no issues' with Boeing 787 fuel control switch locks
Air India on Wednesday night informed its pilots that precautionary inspections of the fuel control switch locking system on all its Boeing 787 aircraft had been completed with no issues found, adding that the throttle control modules on all these planes had already been replaced earlier as per Boeing's maintenance schedule. Two days after the release of a preliminary probe into the AI171 crash, India's aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), on July 14 directed all airlines operating Boeing 737 and 787 aircraft to inspect the locking mechanism of fuel control switches and submit their findings by July 21. The preliminary report of India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) found that on the night of the June 12 crash, both fuel control switches on Air India flight AI171 transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF just seconds after take-off, leading to a dual engine failure and subsequent tragedy. The report did not explain the reasons for this switch movement. In its internal message, Air India said: 'Over the weekend, our Engineering team initiated precautionary inspections on the locking mechanism of Fuel Control Switch (FCS) on all our Boeing 787 aircraft. The inspections have been completed and no issues were found.' It added: 'All our Boeing 787-8 aircraft have also undergone Throttle Control Module (TCM) replacement as per the Boeing maintenance schedule. The FCS is part of this module.' The fuel control switch, located on the aircraft's centre console, controls the fuel supply to the engines. Its locking mechanism is meant to prevent accidental movement from the 'RUN' to 'CUTOFF' position. A disengagement of this lock could result in inadvertent engine shutdown. The airline also advised pilots to remain vigilant: 'Please continue to remain vigilant and report any defect in the Technical Log, as per the existing reporting process. The Coruson tool is also available, should there be any concerns identified during operations.' Business Standard had earlier reported that several Indian airlines had started inspecting this component after international attention turned to its design. Singapore Airlines and Etihad Airways began voluntary checks on their Boeing 787 fleets earlier this week, while South Korea's transport ministry said it would soon mandate similar inspections across Boeing aircraft in the country. According to the Indian carriers impacted by the fuel switch advisory include Air India (which has 57 Boeing jets), Air India Express (75), SpiceJet (29), IndiGo (10 leased Boeing aircraft), and Akasa Air (30). Of these, only Air India and IndiGo operate the Boeing 777, which uses a different fuel control switch and is not subject to inspection. The locking feature on the switch was the subject of a US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) advisory in 2018 (SAIB NM-18-33), which warned that the switch could be installed in ways that disable the lock. Although not declared an 'unsafe condition' warranting a mandatory airworthiness directive, the FAA had recommended that airlines inspect the switches and replace any with disabled locking mechanisms. Honeywell is the manufacturer of these switches. In recent days, regulators and airlines have taken fresh interest in the switch's design and reliability, prompting precautionary inspections worldwide. The FAA advisory had highlighted the potential for 'unintentional fuel shutoff' if the locking mechanism was not engaged.