Air India pilot dispute mars Dreamliner debut

New Delhi Air India Ltd. is set to receive its first Boeing 787 this week as a pilots' dispute over who should fly the aircraft triggers cuts in international services and more than 100 dismissals. A team is already in the US for the handover, which will follow the government giving final approval for a method of pursuing compensation for delivery delays, Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said in New Delhi Tuesday. Air India plans to start using the jet with services to Melbourne, he said on Friday. "The induction of the 787 should have been a major and positive milestone," Binit Somaia, a Sydney-based director of Capa Centre for Aviation, an industry consultant, said. "Instead, there is a possibility that the new plane may be temporarily grounded due to human resources issues." Disruptions Travellers have suffered three weeks of disruptions because of protests rooted in a merger five years ago that left the state-owned airline with duplicate resources and warring unions. It has also caused losses, with the government this year agreeing to Rs300 billion (Dh19.83 billion) of bailouts through 2020. The fuel-efficient plane is about three years late because of production delays, which have prompted Air India to seek about $1 billion (Dh3.67 billion) in compensation from Chicago-based Boeing. Singh Tuesday said a panel of ministers will discuss various options if the planemaker doesn't agree to the claim. The first 787 for Air India will be delivered from Everett, Washington, Wilson Chow, a company spokesman, said in an e-mail last week. Members of the union have called in sick since May 7, forcing the carrier to cut flights to Hong Kong, Osaka and Toronto. Domestic services have largely been unaffected. Minister Singh cancelled plans to attend the 787 handover because of the pilots dispute. The carrier sent 30 pilots each from Air India and the old Indian Airlines to Singapore for training on the 787, according to Singh. The company will have eight pilots for each Dreamliner, the first wide-body aircraft to join Air India's fleet in more than two years. The plane will have 256 seats in a two-class configuration, according to a Boeing statement. Fleet expansion The Dreamliners were part of a wider fleet expansion plan that was meant to turn Air India into a major international carrier. The government combined the company with Indian Airlines to bolster its network and help it expand overseas. Instead, the merger has left Air India mired in debt, struggling to integrate different businesses and weighed down by labour disputes. Last year, the carrier cancelled more than 1,000 flights as former Indian Airlines' pilots stayed away from work for 10 days to complain about being paid less than their colleagues from old Air India. Staff ire: Training priority The introduction of the 787 has sparked protests as Air India has given training on the new aircraft to pilots who previously worked at Indian Airlines, the state-owned domestic operator that combined with Air India in 2007. Pilots who worked at Air India before the merger say they should be the only ones to fly the aircraft as the planes were ordered before the combination. All the 43 Airbus planes bought by Indian Airlines are operated by pilots from that company even after the merger, according to the Indian Pilots' Guild, which represents about a third of Air India's 1,500 current pilots. An Air India pilot will have to work at least 14 years before earning promotion as a commander if pilots from Indian Airlines are also allowed to fly the new jets, Amit Jain, a member of the Guild, said.