Air India’s ‘old’ Dreamliners to get software upgrade: Ajit Singh

NEW DELHI: US aircraft major Boeing will give a software upgrade to Air India's Dreamliners as these aircraft have been constantly developing snags, leading to frequent flight delays and cancellations. Aviation minister Ajit Singh said he raised this issue with Boeing when he was in Seattle, US, last week to take delivery of AI's tenth Dreamliner. Incidentally, all airlines globally using the Boeing 787 are facing technical issues and the problems are not isolated to AI alone.

"AI started getting the Dreamliners last year and some of those planes are now one to one-and-a-half year old now. They could not get a software and hardware upgrade earlier. Boeing has now said that the same will be done at the earliest. They have assured us that none of the issues being faced by airlines using the Dreamliner have any safety impact. We are watching the situation very closely," Ajit Singh said.

Even the tenth Boeing Dreamliner coming to India with the minister on Wednesday had given a "status message: cargo detector" in the cockpit. In simple language, this is not a serious alarm but something that the pilot will after landing ask the technical staff to check.

"It was not an alarm or a warning. These types of warnings come on Dreamliners and very often do not reappear when the aircraft is restarted. But it can't be ignored and has to be checked," said sources. This "false alarm" can indicate problems like pressurization in cargo hold or improper closing of the same.

The Dreamliner was grounded globally by the American Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) this January for five months following battery overheating issues. Even after the plane resumed flying, customer airlines like AI have been facing unending technical snags ranging from ovens overheating to systems failure and software glitches.

"The compensation AI is supposed to get for the four to five months these planes were grounded is being discussed by the airline and the US company. It is for AI to decide if they need to seek damages for the snags being faced," Ajit Singh said.

Being a new plane, Indian aviation authorities act on a cue from the FAA. "The FAA has certified this plane and it is up to them to ensure that it remains that way. The DGCA must take up these issues with the FAA directly as Boeing has so far failed to address them," said a senior pilot.