US Vice President lauds SpiceJet for $22 bn Boeing order

Following US President Donald Trump's praise of Indian carrier SpiceJet for creating jobs in America, Vice President Mike Pence has also lauded the low-cost Indian carrier for creating thousands of jobs in his country.

"Let me just take the opportunity, as the President did yesterday (Monday), to say thank you to SpiceJet for investing and believing in American workers and American businesses," Pence said on Tuesday while addressing the 42nd annual celebrations of the US-India Business Council (USIBC).

During a joint press conference alongside Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House on Monday, Trump praised SpiceJet for creating jobs in the US with its $22-billion order for Boeing planes.

"I was pleased to learn of an Indian airline's (SpiceJet) recent order of 100 new American planes, one of the largest orders of its kind which will support thousands of American jobs," Trump said.

SpiceJet Chairman Ajay Singh in a statement said: "We have placed a large order for the Boeing 737 MAX, in fact, the biggest ever placed by an Indian airline with Boeing. The new planes start to join the fleet in the middle of 2018 and with that our operating cost will further go down."

"As per the US Department of Commerce, it creates 1,32,000 high-skilled, high-paid American jobs within the US," he added.

--IANS

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