[New Delhi,]National Carrier Air India Reduces Employees But Takes Loan For 6 Dream liners
Air India has managed to bring down the number of employees per aircraft by almost two-thirds to 108 compared to 300 more than two years ago
The state-owned airline’s aircraft-employee ratio stood at 1:108 in September, in turn helping it to significantly save on costs,
This figure translates to 108 employees for every aircraft of Air India, which has fleet of more than 100 planes. The airline has little over 20,000 employees.
The latest ratio — a key performance indicator — brings the airline almost at par with some of the global competitors including the likes of Lufthansa + Singapore Airlines
Two years ago, this number stood as high as over 300 employees per aircraft and since then the same has been reducing gradually.
At the end of March, the ratio had come down to 1:114 from 1:135 a year ago,
surviving on a Rs 30,000 crore bailout package Air India Now to raise Rs 700-cr bank loan to pay for 6 Dreamliners
As per AI website , National carrier plans to raise USD 110 million (around Rs 700 crore) from banks/ financial institutions to part-fund its acquisition of six Boeing Dreamliners, which are to be delivered to the airline in the next fiscal.
The state-owned carrier currently has 21 Boeing 787-800 (Dreamliner) planes in its fleet.
As per the terms of agreement signed with Boeing Company, Air India has to pay 10 per cent of the gross cost of the aircraft as advance payment 12 months prior to delivery, the tender document said.
The six aircraft are to be delivered to the carrier between April 2016 and March 2017.
At present, the list price of a Boeing 787-8 is about Rs 1,400 crore.
The loan would be repaid from aircraft delivery financing process,
As part of its fleet expansion plan, the national carrier had in 2006 placed orders with Boeing for 68 aircraft —
27 Dreamliners, 15 B777-300ERs, eight B777-200LRs and 18 B-737- 800s.
The airline has so far taken delivery of 21 Dreamliners, 12 777-300ERs, eight B777-200LRs and 18 B-737-800s.
The delivery of three B777-300ERs was deferred in the wake of the downturn in the global aviation sector in 2008 as there was no “cancellation” clause in the original purchase agreement with Boeing Company.
The airline has, however, now decided to take the delivery of the remaining three B777s as well but has not yet fixed any time line for their induction in the fleet.