New Delhi  - India's national carrier, Air India, currently in the midst of a deep financial crisis, is planning to cancel an order for five Boeing 777s in a bid to cut costs, news reports said Friday.

Air India had also put in a claim for 710 million dollars from Boeing for its failure to deliver 27 B-787 Dreamliner aircraft on schedule, the Hindustan Times newspaper reported, quoting Air India's chairman and managing director Arvind Jadhav.

Air India has ordered 68 aircraft from Boeing, of which 29 have been delivered.

Talks were being conducted with Boeing and no decision had been taken yet on the cancellation, Air India spokesman Jitender Bhargava said by telephone from the airline's Mumbai headquarters.

"We are in dialogue with Boeing to look at our seat augmentation in light of the current economic slowdown and its impact on the aviation sector," Bhargava said.

Regarding the claim for the delayed deliveries, Bhargava said, "Payment for delays is part of the contract."

Several Indian carriers have been deferring deliveries of new aircraft as revenues drop because of the economic slowdown.

The National Aviation Co Ltd (NACIL), the state-run entity that owns Air India, has asked the federal Aviation Ministry for a bail-out.

The severely cash-strapped company deferred June salaries to its 31,000 employees by 15 days, leading to protests by workers.

NACIL was formed by combining domestic carrier Indian Airlines and flag carrier Air India in 2007. The company has placed orders for aircraft worth 450 billion rupees (9.4 billion dollars) with Boeing and Airbus.

Air India's losses in the 2008-2009 fiscal year were more than 50 billion rupees.

Analysts said the losses were due to overstaffing, poor planning and management, rising fuel costs over the past decade and the current economic slowdown.

Plans to privatize the state-run airline have been in the pipeline since 2001 but have run into opposition from unions.

Soon after taking over for a second term in May, Aviation Minister Praful Patel said a comprehensive restructuring plan was being formulated for Air India.  (dpa)