Asia

India's SpiceJet Airliner Wants Boeing Compensation Over 737 Max Mess - Reports

The airline was forced to dock 12 Boeing 737 Max 8 planes out from its operational fleet following government orders, leading to passenger chaos forcing it to lease old planes. Moreover, it banked very heavily on this model to spur its growth in the coming years and it still has 192 aircraft on order with the company.
Sputnik

New Delhi (Sputnik): A low-cost Indian airliner, SpiceJet, has said that it will seek compensation from US aircraft manufacturer Boeing after it was forced to ground all Boeing 737 Max models in operation in its fleet in adherence to the civil aviation regulator's Wednesday ruling, reports the Business Standard

The Indian government closed the country's airspace for all Boeing 737 Max aircraft on Wednesday in a move echoed by many other countries following the Ethiopian Airlines plane's deadly crash on Sunday.  

The airline will seek compensation through demand credits on maintenance, repair and overhaul of its 12 grounded Boeing 737 Max planes.

READ MORE: FAA Finds Similarities in Ethiopia, Indonesia Boeing 737 MAX Crashes

"We will seek compensation from Boeing for the grounding of the planes. We will also seek recompensation for revenue loss and any kind of maintenance or technical overhaul that the aircraft will have to undergo. This is part of the contract, which we signed with Boeing for all the 737 MAX aircraft," the report read, citing a senior SpiceJet executive.

Following the Boeing  737 Max ban, the airline is working overtime to streamline its operations.

READ MORE: US and Canada Among Latest to Ban Boeing 737 Max 8, 9 After Ethiopia Crash

"SpiceJet is rationalising the use of its other aircraft to address the current situation. We are evaluating options for augmenting capacity in the coming days through a mix of additional flights and aircraft induction," a SpiceJet spokesperson told the Business Standard.

Black Boxes of Ethiopian Boeing 737 MAX to Be Analysed in France
Following the Ethiopian Airlines’ Boeing 737 Max crash just minutes after its takeoff from Addis Ababa, leaving all 157 people on board dead, a number of countries, including the US, EU member states, China and India, have either banned the model from their airspace or suspended its flights.

This was the second crash involving a Boeing 737 Max in 6 months, with Indonesia’s Lion Air incident leaving 189 people dead in October 2018.

When commenting on safety concerns, Boeing, in turn, said in a statement on Wednesday that it had "full confidence" in the safety of its 737 Max aircraft but supported the decision to temporarily ground the entire fleet of 737 MAX 8 and 737 MAX 9 series planes in the wake of the deadly crash.

Discuss