In response to national sentiment, Air India to recalibrate plans on Turkish Technic's maintenance works

Air India will look to send its wide-body planes, whose heavy maintenance is being done by Turkish Technic, to other MRO entities, as part of recalibrating its plans taking into cognisance the recent developments related to Turkiye, according to the airline’s CEO Campbell Wilson.

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Against the backdrop of Turkiye backing Pakistan and condemning India’s strikes on terror camps in the neighbouring country in May, aviation security watchdog BCAS, on May 15, revoked the security clearance for Turkish company Celebi Airport Services India Pvt Ltd in the “interest of national security”.

On May 30, aviation safety regulator DGCA granted a one-time final extension of three months to IndiGo on damp leasing of two Boeing 777 aircraft from Turkish Airlines till August 31 but directed the airline to terminate the lease within the three-month period.

When asked about some of Air India’s wide-body aircraft being sent to Turkish Technic for maintenance works, the Air India CEO and MD said it is a global business and a global supply chain.

“It does take a while to adjust when the circumstances change around us but we are obviously sensitive to the national sentiment and perhaps the national wishes. So, regardless of which country we are talking about, we would clearly take cognisance of what people like us to do and expect us to do,” he told PTI in an interview.

Heavy maintenance works of some of the airline’s wide-body B777s and B787s are done by Turkiye-based Turkish Technic.

In the short-term, Wilson said the airline needs to send some aircraft for MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) works overseas to places in the Middle East, South East Asia, the US and in a couple of cases, business to Turkish Technic as it will take some time for India to have the capacity to do such works.

“With this most recent development, we will look to recalibrate where we sent our aircraft, reduce the amount that we are sending to Turkiye and send it to other places.

“But that does take some time because aircraft have to be maintained... we are cognisant of recent developments and we will look to adjust our plans,” he said.

Currently, Air India has a fleet of 191 planes, including 64 wide-body aircraft.