IndiGo Grounds 30 Planes Due to Supply Chain Woes

Supply chain issues continue to affect industries around the world, including low-cost carriers in India.

John

Huston

8/11/22

DALLAS – Supply chain issues continue to affect industries around the world, including low-cost carriers in India. IndiGo (6E) announced yesterday that it had grounded 30 planes due to its inability to acquire needed engines and spare parts.

In terms of daily departures, 6E is India’s largest carrier and is also the seventh largest in the world with 279 aircraft in its fleet. It operates more than 1,600 daily flights to 100 destinations including 26 international routes. IndiGo has about a 57% share of the Indian market.

IndiGo has grounded 30 of its aircraft due to supply chain issues. Photo: Alberto Cucini/Airways

IndiGo's Options

In light of the issue, 6E is looking at other options to stay in business and meet demand, including wet leasing widebody aircraft. The airline has said that it will soon lease three Boeing 777 planes to serve its India-turkey route.

In addition, the airline also said that it is looking at slowing down redeliveries through lease extensions and considering reintroducing aircraft into the fleet.

“While it is our immediate priority to deploy adequate capacity to serve our customers, we are actively engaged with our OEM partners to work on mitigation measures that should ensure the continuity of our network and operations,” the company said.

"As we work on various cost-efficient countermeasures with our OEM partners, the endeavor is to minimize the economic impact of around 30 AOG (Aircraft on Ground), resulting from this global disruption."

The problems extend beyond IndiGo. MSNBC notes that on November 1, aviation consultancy firm CAPA said that “more than 75 planes of Indian carriers are currently grounded due to maintenance and engine-related issues.” This number accounts for about 10-12% of the Indian fleet.

Undoubtedly, this will cause huge a huge impact on quarterly and annual financial results

"The challenges are forcing us to look at different ways and means in order to make sure that we have the capacity to operate," said IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers.

Featured image: Alberto Cucini/Airways

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