9 months on, AI has no place to install simulators

After spending about Rs30 million to buy state-of-the-art Boeing flight simulators, of two of the most advanced aircrafts — the Boeing 777 and the 787 Dreamliner — Air India finds it has no place to install them.

The simulators landed in Mumbai in November 2006 for installation in the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport premises so that its pilots could be trained on them.

Air India is expecting four 777-200LR by the end of 2008 and 22 Dreamliners by September 2008. It was keeping this in mind that the simulators were ordered well in advance and were to be installed on the Kalina side of the international airport near AI’s operations building.

As there is no indication of simulators becoming operational soon, the airline continues to send its pilots for training on these aircraft to Alteon in London.

For all these wide-bodied aircraft, a set of six to eight crew members is required to be trained. And the airline needs about one pilot per week to match its growth plans.

“We might think of moving the simulators to the Central Training Establishment at Hyderabad, which has offered to provide space,” said S Venkat, executive director (Finance) and AI spokesperson.