Boeing to compensate AI for grounding of Dreamliners: Govt

US aircraft manufacturer Boeing has agreed to compensate Air India for the grounding of the Dreamliner aircraft due to battery-fire incidents, Rajya Sabha was informed today.

Minister of State for Civil Aviation K C Venugopal replied in affirmative when he was asked whether Boeing had agreed to pay the compensation to Air India.

He, however, said the quantum of compensation could not be disclosed in accordance with the Purchase Agreement for the Boeing-787 Dreamliners, signed between the American plane builder and the national carrier.

In reply to a written question, he said there was a warranty clause in the agreement which specified that Boeing would not be liable for any damages due to loss of use, revenue or profit due to any fault in the aircraft.

However when the agreement was signed, "the situation of grounding the entire fleet of the newly acquired aircraft (B- 787) and that too for a prolonged period was not foreseen or taken into account."

The issue of compensation for the loss incurred by Air India due to the grounding of the B-787s was taken up with Boeing, Venugopal said.

The Dreamliners have remained grounded since mid-January following a fire in the lithium-ion batteries of a parked Dreamliner in Boston and a case of forced landing of another B-787 in Japan.