Air India has signed definitive sale and lease back agreements with Willis Lease Finance Corporation for 34 CFM56-5B engines installed on its Airbus A320 family fleet. The engines will be covered under Willis Lease's ConstantThrust® program, which will deliver significant reliability and cost savings versus a traditional MRO shop visit program. This is the first ConstantThrust® sale and leaseback agreement for aircraft engines by any Indian carrier.

Under the sale side of the transaction, Willis Lease will purchase from Air India 34 engines powering 13 Airbus A321 aircraft and 4 Airbus A320 aircraft. Through its ConstantThrust® program, Willis Lease will provide replacement and standby spare engines, allowing Air India to avoid potentially costly and unpredictable shop visits on engines powering a transitioning aircraft fleet. Willis Lease will also have an in-country team to coordinate and manage the entire program and all logistics and transportation involved.