The 787 Dreamliner simulator, which was purchased at the cost of `200 crore by the airline around six months ago is gathering dust at the airline’s office at the old airport in Kalina. According to striking pilots of Air India’s Indian Pilots Guild (IPG), the equipment could have been used to help train some of the pilots on the coveted plane.
Sources claimed that the simulator was lying unused due to lack of an instructor.
Further, IPG is also unhappy that members of the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (Icpa) — the pilots union of the erstwhile Indian Airlines — are currently being trained on the 7B7 Dreamliner boeing simulator bought by the Singapore Airlines.
Their contention is that the cash-strapped Air India, could have simply trained the pilots on the simulator that is languishing here. “We are spending more money on training on someone else’s simulator, when we have our machine right here. The airline spends around `1 crore behind every Indian Airlines pilot to train him/her on a Boeing aircraft. This includes around `20,000 on the simulator and the accommodation, transport within Singapore and ticket fare to and from Singapore. We are not against Icpa pilots being trained for the plane, but against wasting resources here which could be put to good use,” said an IPG source.
A senior AI official from New Delhi confirmed the absence of an instructor. “Efforts are being made to identify one at the earliest. We have also received the requisite permission from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation for the simulator,” said the official.