MRO facility lifts off

The Hindu - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM,December 17, 2011

A Rs.110-crore Maintenance Repair Overhaul (MRO) unit of Air India set up near the Thiruvananthapuram international airport was commissioned on Friday.

Union Minister for Civil Aviation Vayalar Ravi inaugurated the unit set up on 6.07 hectares given by the State free of cost at Chakka to the national carrier.

Minister for Ports and Excise K. Babu, Shashi Tharoor, MP, Director of Engineering, Air India, K.M. Unni, Chief Operating Officer of the Kochi-based Air India Express S. Chandrakumar, and Chief Engineer, AIE, H. R. Jagannath were present.

With the commissioning of the state-of-the-art MRO unit, the national carrier will be able to take care of all the engineering requirements in-house initially of Boeing 737-800 aircraft of Air India Express, the no-frills airline of the national carrier.

All engineering checks from transits to ‘C' can be undertaken at the unit that has 5,000 sq.m of workshop, warehouse, and office space. It is expected to put the State capital on the list of global off-shoring MRO destinations.

Later, addressing the gathering, Mr.Ravi said the operational efficiency of Air India Express and Air India could improve with the opening of the facility.

He said the repair and maintenance of aircraft would be carried out here instead of waiting for engineers from Mumbai or sending the aircraft to the MRO unit in Mumbai.

Mr. Ravi said the unit would create job opportunities for many and instructions had been given to those managing the facility to recruit local people.

Pointing out that Air India was passing through a crisis, Mr. Ravi said the daily income of the carrier had doubled due to the overwhelming support of the staff and the crew.

Mr. Ravi said steps had been initiated to commence full-fledged functioning of the Air India headquarters in Kochi.

Dr. Tharoor, who presided over the function, said the unit would emerge as a money-spinner for the national carrier once third party business was obtained. He hoped Air India would set up more back offices at the unit .

Mr. Babu, who was the guest of honour, said making available more land for the MRO unit and the airport was a challenge as the local people were opposing land acquisition.

Aid for the displaced

“The government is ready for coming out with a package for those losing land for the development of the airport,” he added. The controversies over the inaugural function of the MRO should have been avoided and the Civil Aviation Ministry was not to be blamed, he added.

Mr. Jagannath said an aircraft was expected to enter the hangar by next week for phase checks as the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had already given the clearance.

“The unit is to get the clearance from the Kerala Fire and Rescue Services. The second hangar of the unit will be ready for receiving aircraft by January middle,” he added.

Around 150 personnel will be taking care of the activities at the unit. Of them, 30 will be aircraft maintenance engineers (skilled) and 50 would be mechanics (semi-skilled).

The cleaning and other jobs would be outsourced and the local people would get priority in the recruitment, he added.