Janet Silvera, Senior Gleaner Writer

An Air Jamaica plane on the tarmac of the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer

WESTERN BUREAU:

After five months of sitting in a hangar in France, an Airbus 340 leased by Air Jamaica will cost the country US$3.5 million (J$250 million), payable to International Leasing and Financial Corporation (ILFC).

The airline has confirmed that the Airbus, which should have been returned to ILFC upon the sale of Air Jamaica's Heathrow slots to Virgin Airways, has been sitting in the maintenance facilities at Sogerma in Bordeaux, France.

Air Jamaica Chairman Shirley Williams said the plane is to be released next week. She said the airline was at odds with the airbus maintenance facility where the aircraft was sent for a C-Check.

Periodic checks

Aircraft maintenance checks are periodic assessments that have to be done on all aircraft after a certain amount of time or usage. C-Check is performed approximately every 12-18 months. This maintenance check puts the aircraft out of service. The schedule of occurrence has many factors and components, and thus varies by aircraft category and type.

"The aircraft was sent to Sogerma in September for a C-Check; this has been upgraded to a lease return check as the aircraft is being returned to the lessor," Williams said in an emailed response to The Gleaner. "The company has been paid but there is a disagreement with respect to additional work."

Aviation experts say a 'moderate estimate' for a C-Check of an aircraft that size ranges between US$6 million and US$8 million (J$426 million and J$568 million), while the airline would have incurred additional costs for storage.

Unknown amounts

Air Jamaica pays an average of US$690,000 (J$49 million) per month for the leasing of an airbus - a total of US$3.5 million (J$250 million), plus unknown amounts in insurance costs.

The revelation comes at a time when Air Jamaica is about to commence a fight, in the US courts, with Federal prosecutors who have sued the airline, alleging that it failed to immediately correct damage to a plane and, consequently, flew the plane 58 times in "an un-airworthy condition".

It also comes at a time when the airline is anxiously searching for an investor to grab its proposed divestment and in the midst of losses amounting to $100 million annually.

In the last three months, the airline has been forced to cut staff in its overseas offices and is currently in the market searching for a company that can maintain its fleet.

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com