ADVERTISEMENTAir India is facing disruptions following last week’s fatal crash as additional safety inspections on its Dreamliner fleet have led to flight delays, cancellations and growing passenger anxiety.
India’s aviation safety regulator ordered deeper checks on Boeing 787 aircraft operated by the airline soon after its London-bound flight crashed during take-off in Ahmedabad city on 12 June, killing at least 270 people, including 241 passengers and crew.
The precautionary inspections, as well as the closure of airspace in some Middle Eastern countries, have strained Air India operations across domestic and international routes.
How many flights has Air India cancelled?
Since the crash, Air India has cancelled operations for 83 wide-body flights, including 66 Dreamliners, according to data shared by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, India’s aviation safety regulator.
In a statement late Wednesday, Air India said wide-body aircraft service would remain curtailed by 15 per cent until mid-July because of the unfolding conflict in the Middle East and the additional inspections.
The airline said it would inform affected passengers and try to accommodate them with alternate flights. The “curtailments are a painful measure to take, but are necessary,” the airline said.
The airline is performing an even greater number of checks than required, which has had a cascading impact on operations, a company executive familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity as he wasn’t authorised to speak to the media.
The airline said in its statement that it has decided to also inspect all of its Boeing 777 aeroplanes in its fleet, even though that model wasn't involved in the crash.
The cuts in the flight schedule will allow Air India to keep more planes in reserve to deal with any unplanned disruptions.
The company on Tuesday announced the cancellation of multiple flights, including one from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick. Another flight from Delhi to Paris was cancelled when a mandatory pre-flight check raised an issue, the airline said in a statement. The issue was not identified.
Inspections reveal 'no major concerns' so far
In a statement Tuesday, the aviation directorate said surveillance conducted on Air India’s Dreamliner fleet so far has found no “major safety concerns.”
The aircraft and their associated maintenance systems were found to be compliant with existing safety standards, the directorate said, adding that of the 33 planes, 24 have completed the inspections, while four were undergoing long-term maintenance. The rest were expected to finish the safety checks soon.
The regulator advised the airline to “strictly adhere to regulations," and asked it to strengthen internal coordination across engineering, operations and ground handling units and ensure adequate availability of spares to mitigate flight delays.
Experts from India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau are probing the crash with assistance from the UK, the US and officials from Boeing.
What does this mean for Air India?
Some aviation experts see the crash as a temporary setback for Air India as it transforms from a financially troubled state-owned carrier to a privately owned company with ambitions for broad expansion.
“If you ask me whether the accident will derail the ambitious growth plans, no way. There can be no looking back,” said Jitender Bhargava, a former Air India executive director.
The company has already placed huge orders for new aircraft. Its present challenge is to boost the morale of employees and passengers through confidence-building measures, Bhargava said.
“The faster you make people forget this one-off accident, the better it is,” Bhargava said.
Indian conglomerate Tata Sons took over Air India in 2022, returning the debt-saddled national carrier to private ownership after decades of government control. The $2.4 billion (€2 billion) deal was seen as the government’s effort to sell off loss-making, state-run businesses. It was also in some ways a homecoming for Air India, which was launched by the Tata family in 1932.
Since the takeover, Air India has ordered hundreds of new planes worth over $70 billion (€61 billion), redesigned its branding and livery and absorbed smaller airlines Tata held stakes in.
The company has additionally committed millions of dollars to digital overhauls of aircraft and refurbishing the interiors of more than five dozen legacy planes.