Air India Reportedly Plans to Tap SIA to Boost Fleet Upkeep

Air India plans to lean on shareholder Singapore Airlines (SIA) to move some aircraft maintenance services in-house instead of outsourcing them to a state-owned company, according to people familiar with the matter.

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DELHI -

The Indian airline is preparing to take on pre-flight and daily aircraft inspections, minor repair work and other troubleshooting activities from state-owned AI Engineering Services, or AIESL, said the people, who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

SIA, which owns 25.1 per cent of Air India, will help in the transition of those maintenance tasks to the airline's staff, the people said.

"As a significant minority shareholder in Air India, Singapore Airlines has been working closely" to support Air India's transformation plan, an SIA spokesperson said in an e-mail. "This includes providing our expertise and support to Air India, where necessary."

The phased move away from AIESL follows a deadly crash on June 12 - the cause of which remains unknown - a sector-wide safety audit and a temporary safety-related pause in service.