The flag carrier Air India has been forced to ground as many as 20 of its 127 fleet of aircraft, comprising both wide-body as well as single-aisle, as it does not have the funds to replace their engines, a senior official has said.
The debt-ridden AI, surviving on public doles, needs at least Rs 1,500 crore to get new engines for these planes, and with has no funds coming in, these planes are unlikely to resume operations any soon, the official explained.
The loss-making carrier has a fleet of 127 planes of which 45 are Boeing wide-bodies (27 B787s and 18 B777s) and cater to the long-haul and ultra-long haul international routes, and the rest are narrow-body Airbus A320s.
