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Monday, January 21, 2013

Air India has become synonymous with a troubled airline. Just when things were appearing to improve somewhat, a new problem has put a spoke in its wheels. It is reported that the state-run airline had to ground its six Boeing 787 Dreamliner's yesterday. Apparently, regulators and airlines in Europe and South America have also grounded the Dreamliner. This was after doubts were raised about the plane's batteries.

It is worth noting that the 787 Dreamliner has a list price of US$ 207 m (approximately Rs 11.2 bn). The aircraft is said to be fuel-efficient as it uses weight-saving composite materials. It has been touted as an important breakthrough in the way aircrafts are designed and built. Air India had been pinning all its hope on the 787 Dreamliner for its turnaround. The carrier has 27 Dreamliner's on order. The deliveries had commenced in September 2012. Subsequently, it reported profits at the operating (EBITDA) level in November and December. This recent glitch is the last thing that it may have asked for. Given that its turnaround depends on this Dreamliner, it would only be hoping that the problem gets sorted as soon as possible.

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