Air India has decided to delay by about two years the delivery of three Boeing 777s on order. The aircraft had been slated for delivery by the end of 2013. “We have rescheduled the delivery of three Boeing 777 aircraft ... The delivery has been postponed so that capacity induction is in line with our requirements,” Air India spokesman K. Swaminathan told Aviation Week yesterday. Swaminathan denied that the 777 delivery delay is due to the ongoing financial crisis at the airline.

INDIAN AFFAIRS: EADS Cassidian has appointed Peter Gutsmiedl as the first chief executive officer of its India operations. Gutsmiedl, who will be based in Bengaluru, will lead the next phase of Cassidian’s engagement with India, a company release said March 14. Before assuming the new position, Gutsmiedl served in various senior and board-level roles at Cassidian, which is the security and defense company of EADS.

Cash-strapped Air India expects an equity infusion of about 55 billion rupees ($1.1 billion) from the Indian government in the financial year beginning April 1. “We have received 12 billion rupees as equity from the government in the current financial year and expect to get the remaining in the budget that will be announced Friday,” says Air India Chairman Rohit Nandan.