Air India will seek damages from Boeing over Dreamliner grounding

Air India Ltd. will seek at least 2 billion rupees ($37 million) from Boeing Co. to compensate losses at the state-owned carrier following grounding of its 787 aircraft, a person familiar with the matter said.

The carrier will raise the claim with Boeing shortly, said the official, who declined to be identified citing rules. G. Prasada Rao, a spokesman at Mumbai-based Air India, didn’t immediately respond to two calls to his mobile phone. Boeing didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.

Air India may resume local flights of the 787 later this month after the planemaker carries out safety modifications to the plane’s batteries, the official said. Air India joins LOT Polish Airlines SA in pushing ahead with compensation claims after Boeing’s global fleet of Dreamliners was grounded following a battery fire on an All Nippon Airways’ jet Jan. 16.

Boeing added safety modifications to the batteries and plans a second 787 test flight before submitting the changes to the Federal Aviation Administration as it seeks approval to restore the grounded planes to service.

Air India has six 787 aircraft in its fleet.

Editors: Suresh Seshadri, Vipin V. Nair. To contact the reporter on this story: Karthikeyan Sundaram in New Delhi at [email protected]. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anand Krishnamoorthy at [email protected].