Pence also touched upon his important meeting with the CEO of SpiceJet
US Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday praised India’s fourth largest airline SpiceJet for creating jobs in the United States. Pence’s remarks came just a day after President Donald Trump himself praised the low-cost carrier for investing in America.
In his speech, Pence said that India will become of the top three destinations for airline manufacturers and added that the US is already providing support for hastening India’s growth in this field.
“India is projected to become the world’s third-largest market for planes and passengers. American companies are already providing airport infrastructure and the airplanes themselves,” Pence said during his address at the US-India Business Council’s Annual Leadership Summit.
Pence also touched upon his important meeting with the CEO of SpiceJet who gave American airline manufacturer Boeing an order of 40 new jets in addition to the 100 other that were ordered in the beginning of this year.
“I just had the chance to meet with the CEO of SpiceJet who just last week placed an order of 40 brand new Boeing jets, on top of 100 new jets ordered earlier this year,” he added.
“I know that American companies are going to continue to give India’s aviation industry the wings it needs to soar. And let me just take the opportunity, as the President did yesterday, to say thank you to SpiceJet for investigating and believing in American workers and American businesses,” Pence said.
Earlier, President Trump also lauded SpiceJet during his joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“I was pleased to learn about an Indian Airlines recent order of 100 new American planes, one of the largest orders of its kind, which will support thousands and thousands of American jobs,” Trump said.
SpiceJet has announced their commitment with Boeing for 40 737 MAX airplanes last week and the agreement values approximately $4.74 billion at current list prices.
“As a Boeing 737 operator and current customer of the 737 MAX, we are proud to be a part of the launch of the 737 MAX 10 and to be the first airline in India to order the newest version of the 737, which will enable us to maximize revenue on our dense routes while having a lower unit cost,” SpiceJet Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh said in a press release.
The agreement includes 20 new orders for the 737 MAX 10 and conversions of 20 of the low-cost carrier’s 737 MAX 8 airplanes of its current order to 737 MAX 10s, confirmed Dinesh Keskar, senior vice president, Asia Pacific & India, Boeing Commercial Airplanes.