Air India's Dreamliner fleet grounded, to go for software upgrade

Air India's fancied Boeing 787, popularly known as Dreamliners, were grounded from Sunday for software upgrade and other enhancements.

The aircraft, believed to be one of the most fuel-efficient, have been in the news for all the wrong reasons.

Now, experts have started questioning whether Air India made a hasty decision in buying these aircraft.

Air India has some 10 Dreamliners in its fleet.

Sources say while the latest additions have software upgrades, the earlier ones lack these sophisticated upgrades and need to be attended at the latest.

Sources in Air India management asserted that the Dreamliners are still the best bet of the national carrier and that a few minor upgrades are essential.

A team of experts from Boeing is already here to attend to the Dreamliners.

The grounding will take place in a phased manner and the rectification and upgrade would happen one by one.

So what is ailing the Dreamliners?

Sources say too many warning signals have become a cause of worry for the pilots.

Even though, most often these warning signals turn out to be false alarms yet these signals cannot be ignored.

These on and off happenings have become the biggest cause of worry for Air India management.

These troubles have also meant that on-time performance of the Dreamliners isn't much to boast about.

Sources also say that Air India is facing a shortage of pilots to fly these fancied aircraft.

Additionally, engineers till date are not much at home with the working of these aircraft.

DGCA sources said they were aware of the developments and had asked for clarifications from the national carrier.

They said that at no point, passenger safety would be compromised.

This also comes on the back of the directive given by the Federal Aviation Administration that the Dreamliners should avoid cruising around certain type of clouds by at least 50 nautical miles.

Even manufacturer Boeing has said that the engine was seen developing ice crystal formation while flying through the cumulonimbus clouds.

This, experts say, is dangerous for the working of the engine and consequent flight safety.

Source:  http://indiatoday.intoday.in