Aerospace Diary

                                                          From left, Jack Jones, vice president and general manager of Boeing South Carolina; Air India Capt. A. S. Soman; Dinesh Keskar, senior vice president of Asia-Pacific and India Sales for Boeing Commercial Airplanes; and M. L. Franklin, Air India technical team leader, celebrate delivery of Air India’s first 787. Neelam Mathews Sept 7, 2012 After a lot of dilly-dallying, Air India on Thursday took  delivery of its first Boeing 787 (of 27 ordered) at Charleston, South Carolina facility of Boeing. The 787 will land in Delhi on Sept 8. It will then be ferried to Mumbai and the Air India crew is expected to return to Charleston for the airline’s second 787, likely to take around ten days. “The 787 will allow Air India to open new routes in a dynamic marketplace and prov...

Neelam Mathews Sept 4, 2012 While Indian carriers will need 1,450 new airplanes valued at $175 billion dollars,of which 83% will be single aisles, interestingly, it gives only a 1%  (15) in its current market outlook -2011-2031- to regional jets. While it says 234 will be twin aisles, the outlook forecasts no sales for large jets such as the A380 and 747-8. Boeing does not see the ultra large jets selling here. “Everybody wants frequency. Worldwide, the size is going down. No one will take the risk….(as a result of major losses in the airline business in India),” said Dinesh Keskar, senior vice president of sales, Asia Pacific and India. It may be recalled that Kingfisher had wanted to start its first flight when allowed international operations from Bangalore to San Francisco. The flight never took off as numbers weren't there  and the aircraft was subsequently given to Africa's Arik Air. This is in sharp contrast to Thai Airways that will take delivery of th...

News Aviation Daily Jan 20 , 2010 , p. 03 Neelam Mathews Air India will receive the first of 27 Boeing 787s on order in the first quarter of 2011 (April). The first 787 will be delivered to ANA in the last quarter this year, confirmed Dinesh Keskar, Boeing India President. Air India (AI) will receive about 15 787s by the end of 2012, according to an airline official who did not want to be identified. This figure was not confirmed by Boeing. The Indian carrier plans to replace its eight leased A310-300s with the 787s, said an Air India spokesman. Even as the carrier goes through major losses, Air India seems to be increasing its inventory of new aircraft steadily. According to Chairman Arvind Jadhav, the airline took deliveries of 29 aircraft in 2009 that enhanced fleet utilization and helped phase out 11 old aircraft. By March 2010, three 777-200s, two Airbus A310s and eight A320s will be returned or retired from the fleet, said Jadhav. Earlier efforts to lease out its 777s proved frui...