Air India Signs Agreement With GE Aviation

GE Aviation and Air India have signed a 20-year agreement for GE90 engine services. The value of the agreement was not disclosed.

GE services will include overhaul, on-wing support, new and used serviceable parts, component repair, technology upgrades, engine leasing and diagnostics.

Air India ordered 23 GE90-powered Boeing 777 aircraft in 2005 and currently operates 20 of the aircraft, with the remaining three to be delivered in the next few years.

“Air India has more than 40 years of providing high-quality MRO services in India,” said Nalin Jain, country director for GE Aviation. “Adding GE90 engine overhaul service is the perfect expansion of Air India’s MRO capabilities.”

Air India is expanding its maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) capabilities at Mumbai to include GE90 engine overhaul that under the present schedule will be certified for basic GE90 MRO by 2012.

Air India is looking at building a new MRO facility in Nagpur that will include GE90 testing capabilities.

The OnPoint solution agreement—a flexible, long-term commitment with GE—will provide Air India with comprehensive material support, training and assistance on overhaul work scoping. While Air India develops its GE90 MRO capabilities, GE will provide the airline with overhaul services at GE’s MRO facilities to support the carrier’s GE90 engine fleet.

 “Air India has already established partial capabilities on GE90 engines in Mumbai with the help of GE. Three engine overhauls were recently completed, saving us shipping costs and also reducing our turnaround time significantly. This will help us as we prepare to take on third-party work in the facility,” said K. M. Unni, SBU Head of the MRO SBU and Air India board member.

GE also recently inked OnPoint agreements in the United Arab Emirates and Italy. Its joint venture with the Engine Alliance, Mubadala Aerospace and its subsidiary Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies, will create the first GE90 test and on-wing support capability. Ground-breaking is planned for this facility in the first quarter of 2011 and operational launch in early 2013.

For Alitalia, GE will provide analysis of fuel spend and operations, using proprietary decision software and fuel consulting services. It expects to reduce the airline’s fuel consumption by 3% on certain segments, cutting down on the roughly 30% portion that airlines typically devote to fuel.