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Air India cancels, delays global flights amid safety inspections, audits
Several of Air India's international flights faced cancellations or delays on Tuesday, primarily due to its B787 aircraft undergoing mandatory safety inspections ordered by India's aviation regulator in the wake of last week's deadly crash of flight AI171 in Ahmedabad. However, operational stress was compounded by weather-related disruptions, airspace restrictions and crew duty-time limitations, all of which added further strain to the airline's widebody network.
The crash, which killed 241 passengers and crew and at least 24 people on the ground last Thursday, prompted the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to mandate an immediate 'enhanced safety inspection' of Air India's entire Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet, comprising 34 aircraft.
Though the bulk of these inspections were completed by Tuesday, their impact continued to reverberate across the airline's operations. 'It's not that every cancellation is due to the safety inspections, but there's no denying that the fleet-wide checks have strained availability and turnaround times,' a senior Air India official said.
On Tuesday, Air India cancelled flight AI143 from Delhi to Paris after its pre-flight checks identified an issue. 'The mandatory pre-flight checks identified an issue which is being presently addressed. However, in view of the flight coming under the restrictions on night operations at Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) airport, the said flight has been cancelled,' the airline said. The return flight from Paris to Delhi on 18 June was also cancelled as a result.
Flight AI159 from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick was cancelled due to longer-than-usual turnaround times. In a separate statement, the airline clarified: 'Flight AI159 from Ahmedabad to Gatwick has been cancelled today due to the unavailability of the aircraft, resulting from airspace restrictions and additional precautionary checks, and not due to any technical snag as claimed.' Air India added that it had arranged alternative travel, hotel stays and full refunds or rescheduling for passengers.
Other affected services on Tuesday included cancellations of AI153 (Delhi–Vienna), AI133 (Bengaluru–London) and AI915 (Delhi–Dubai). AI145 (Goa–London) faced a delay of over 90 minutes, while AI148 (Paris–Delhi) and AI2026 (Frankfurt–Delhi) were delayed by about two hours each. The Sydney–Delhi flight (AI301) departed more than two and a half hours behind schedule. Domestically, flight AI424 from Ahmedabad to Delhi was delayed by over five hours.
The ripple effect has extended to scheduled services for Wednesday, with AI169 (Amritsar–London Gatwick), AI151 (Delhi–Zurich) and AI308 (Delhi–Melbourne) all cancelled.
According to another Air India official, the inspection process itself was taking time. 'If the checks find anything even slightly off, rectification has to happen then and there, and that takes additional time,' the person said.
Further complications arose when such delays caused flight crews to exceed Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL), which are a set of mandatory limits on how many hours pilots and cabin crew can be on duty or fly within a given period, designed to ensure they are adequately rested. If a crew runs out of FDTL hours, the flight must be delayed or cancelled unless a replacement crew is available.
Unfavourable weather in several parts of the country, including Delhi, as well as ongoing airspace restrictions over Pakistan and parts of the Middle East amid the Israel–Iran conflict, further narrowed operational flexibility on Tuesday.
Air India did not issue an official statement to Business Standard on this matter.
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