Aerospace Diary

AIN AIR TRANSPORT PERSPECTIVE » JUNE 4, 2012 by  NEELAM MATHEWS Air India holds an order for 27 Boeing 787s, but it could struggle to pay for them now. (Photo: Boeing) June 4, 2012, 12:43 PM Individuals can argue over who has lost more face as a result of Air India’s last-minute cancellation of its first Boeing 787 delivery: the U.S. airframer or the cash-strapped flag carrier and its masters in the Indian government. But few would debate the awkwardness of a decision by Indian officials to scrap a delivery ceremony planned for between May 28 and 31 at barely four days’ notice, even as a party of 40 invited media and guests prepared to board a flight to Seattle to join elaborate festivities to mark acceptance of the first of 27 Dreamliners ordered by Air India. Civil aviation minister Ajit Singh canceled the delivery, insisting that Boeing would first have to agree to a revised compensation package for the program’s well-documented delays. Some see the move as a poli...