The air was rife with anticipation at the Chennai airport. Security staff, loaders, Airports Authority of India staff and Air India workers rubbed shoulders with officers from other airlines on the tarmac, by 9 am. And no, it had nothing to do with the fact that it was Vinayagar Chaturthi. Air India’s much talked about Boeing B787 Dreamliner was due to complete its first commercial flight by landing in the city. A little after 9.30 am, the hum of the large 256-seater plane was barely audible over the titter of voices that were waiting for its arrival. Surprisingly, the plane touched down swiftly and without too much ado and a little ahead of schedule.
Quite a few airport workers were a little miffed at having missed the landing of the ‘most advanced plane in the world’ and the water-spray salute that was accorded to it. “They said that it was landing only at 9.45 am so we were relaxed. Suddenly, security staff began getting word over the walkie-talkies that the plane had landed early, so we rushed over,” said an AAI official.
The first of 27 Dreamliners that have been ordered from aircraft manufacturing giant Boeing, this plane was inducted into the Maharaja’s service on September 6 by Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh in New Delhi. Though it has been said several times over by proud Air India employees, the fact that the hard-talking Ajit Singh called these planes the ‘solution to the debt-ridden national air carrier’s problems’, are a testament to their service and potential.
The flight made its first commercial run from New Delhi to Chennai with 118 passengers and also did a return trip an hour after. It was also scheduled to travel to Bangalore and back, as part of its nation-wide ‘introduction’ flightplan. With the cash-strapped airline having little to cheer about in the past few years, it was certainly a good day for most of Air India’s old hands.
“It will be used to strengthen our routes to Europe and Australia, but for the next few months it will be like our ambassador on the domestic circuit,” said an Air India spokesperson.
Captained by a beaming A S Soman, the top-of-the-range plane received plenty of good reviews from the passengers who flew in. “It’s a lot faster. I fly from Delhi to Chennai a lot but have never made in in just over 2 hours,” said S Sreedhar, one of the first passengers to deplane. Another passenger, Dr Suresh, said, “It indeed looks like a dream flight, but the real test will be whether Air India can maintain this level of consistent service and regularity. That will be the real ‘dream-line’.”
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