US aircraft maker Boeing expects further orders for its Dreamliner jets from India, a market it sees as poised for sustained growth, even as tariff frictions persist between New Delhi and Washington.
Boeing India and South Asia President Salil Gupte said the company remained confident about long-term opportunities in India, underlining the shared goal of industrialising the country’s aerospace sector despite short-term challenges.
“B787 has an extremely bright future in India... we look forward to potentially more orders for the 787 in India coming,” Gupte told PTI in an interview.
In India, Boeing 787 Dreamliners are currently operated by Air India, which is preparing to induct its first custom-made Dreamliner following privatisation in January 2022. The aircraft is expected to begin commercial operations from February 1.
Air India’s fleet includes 33 Dreamliners — 26 legacy B787-8 aircraft, six B787-9s acquired from Vistara, and the newly delivered jet. IndiGo also operates a limited number of Dreamliners leased from Norse Atlantic Airways.
The optimism comes against the backdrop of last year’s fatal crash involving an Air India Dreamliner operating flight AI171 from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick, which killed 260 people.
It was the first fatal accident involving the aircraft type, and the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is probing the incident.
Against this backdrop, Gupte said it was a challenging year (2025) for Boeing.
"... as we think about the Air India AI171 accident, naturally, the victims' families, victims, and all of their loved ones remain foremost in our minds.
"As it relates to the accident investigation, of course, that will go on, and we expect the Indian AAIB will issue its report. But beyond that, there's not much that any of the OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) can comment on," he said.
In recent years, Boeing had also faced regulatory issues, including with Dreamliners.
The global demand for B787s has been incredibly robust and expect that will continue in the years to come, Gupte said.
Last year, Boeing delivered 14 B787s to various airlines.
In response to a query on increasing competition from Airbus, Gupte said competition is natural in the industry as he stressed that "airplanes are tools for our customers to serve their customers".
"We believe that the number of routes and missions that our customers here will want to fly will grow for the B787. And we think there is an entire network of possibilities for which the B787 will be ideal," he noted.
Regarding tariff issues, he said Boeing has been around for 100 years where it has operated through a very broad set of circumstances, including world wars, conflicts, financial crises, and other challenges.
"Whether it is a tariff or a financial crisis or something else, in the long term, it does not affect the growth of the business... as societies become more advanced, one of the things that they do is travel more...
"We are confident that we will be able to see some of these short-term challenges through," Gupte said.
Boeing has over 265 commercial and military aircraft operating in India, which is a key market for the plane maker. The company has more than 325 suppliers and the annual sourcing from the country is worth over USD 1.25 billion.
Apart from Air India, Air India Express, Akasa Air, and SpiceJet have Boeing planes in their fleets.