Ai To Market Aircraft Maintenance Services

Air India has decided to develop its engineering division as a separate profit centre and has constituted a marketing team to sell its services to third parties.

Air India is currently examining various modalities in order to implement the decision.

The move follows the realisation by the management that there is spare capacity at the division as a result of the productivity-linked wage agreement signed with the engineering union.

The marketing cell will be a part of the engineering division and will be responsible for marketing the engineering services of the flag carrier. The key to the success of the venture depends on the dual factors of being cost competitive and having a low turnaround time,'' sources said.

 

The company has held discussions with several airlines for the sale of its services. The focus will be on profit earning and augmenting resources,'' the sources said.

Although the exact quantum of profits is yet to be worked out, capacity is not a constraint for Air India,'' the sources added. We have in the past handled some jobs for Kuwait Airways, some of the domestic airlines and some of the airlines of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries.''

Air India is currently exploring ways to implement cost accounting for various services rendered and an on-line inventory management system will be shortly installed to track the spares. To improve productivity and efficiency, the engineering division has also taken up computerisation of its maintenance facilities.

Air India has identified its potential to undertake third-party maintenance. Abundant availability of technical and skilled manpower, strong work ethics and relatively lower labour costs are some of the advantages of the airlines,'' the sources said.

Air India has the infrastructure to undertake maintenance of Boeing 747-200/400 and Airbus A310-300 aircraft. Line certification of these aircraft and minor maintenance checks of A300 are also done by the company.

Air India also has the overhaul facilities for various other types of aircraft engines and auxiliary power units.

The company also has its own facility wherein repairs and overhaul of hydraulic, pneumatic, electrical and avionics components of these aircraft can be done, besides structural repairs and landing gear overhaul. The Air India facilities are approved by the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation and Federal Aviation Authority of the US.

The carrier had earlier decided to transform its cargo and engineering divisions into separate profit centres as part of its turnaround strategy.