
Air India finds no issues with locking mechanism of fuel control switch in B787 planes: Official
On Monday, aviation watchdog DGCA directed airlines to inspect the fuel switch locking system in their Boeing 787 and 737 planes against the backdrop of AAIB's preliminary report stating that fuel switches were cut off before the Air India plane crash that killed 260 people last month.
"Over the weekend, our Engineering team initiated precautionary inspections on the locking mechanism of Fuel Control Switch (FCS) on all our Boeing 787 aircraft. The inspections have been completed and no issues were found," the official said, quoting an internal message sent to Air India pilots.
The official also said that all the Boeing 787-8 aircraft have undergone Throttle Control Module (TCM) replacement as per the Boeing maintenance schedule. FCS is part of this module.
FCS regulate the flow of fuel into the aircraft engines. In its preliminary report on the Boeing 787-8 crash released on Saturday, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) said the fuel supply to both engines of the plane was cut off within a gap of one second, causing confusion in the cockpit soon after take off.
A 15-page preliminary investigation report into the Air India plane crash revealed fuel-control switches of the two engines moved from the "run" to the "cutoff" position, within the space of one second, leading to immediate loss of altitude.
"In the cockpit voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why did he cut off? The other pilot responded that he did not do so," the report said.
AAIB, which mentioned about FAA's SAIB in the report, did not suggest any recommended action.
The airline has also asked pilots to remain vigilant and report any defect in the technical log, as per the existing reporting process, the official added.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Mint
8 minutes ago
- Mint
Adobe and Air India: Partnering for a Technology-First Transformation
Digital transformation is frequently discussed as a buzzword. For Air India, however, it is a pressing, holistic, systemic realisation. As part of the Tata Group, Air India is undergoing a monumental enterprise-wide reinvention across every process, platform, and person in the organisation. Central to this bold approach is Adobe, facilitating Air India to leapfrog old legacy constraints and become a data-driven, experience-first airline. In a fireside chat at Adobe SUMMIT India 2025, Dr. Satya Ramaswamy, Chief Digital and Technology Officer at Air India, spoke with Prativa Mohapatra, Vice President and Managing Director of Adobe India, about how the transformation encompasses systems, scale, and human experience — and why Adobe's integrated approach has been pivotal in enabling this evolution. 'We had to change practically every single aspect of the airline,' Dr. Ramaswamy noted. With underinvestment having accumulated over decades, Air India's transformation had to start from zero and move fast. Four pillars now define the foundation: The single most important driver of the transformation is customer experience, and it spans three key arenas: On the ground (contact centres, airport touchpoints) (contact centres, airport touchpoints) In the air (onboard services, crew engagement) (onboard services, crew engagement) In cyberspace (digital channels including mobile, web, in-flight, chatbot, and APIs) Air India's six core customer-facing digital channels—its mobile app, website, notifications, AI.g chatbot, third-party APIs, and in-flight entertainment system—have all been overhauled. These are now tightly integrated into a seamless experience, largely enabled by Adobe's Experience Cloud suite. Air India has simplified their booking, check-in, departure, and inflight experience by integrating key Adobe Experience Cloud solutions with their own platforms. By utilizing Adobe solutions, Air India can ultimately provide just-in-time notifications and promotion across multiple channels, and they are constantly optimizing based on insights from Adobe Analytics. By integrating Adobe Experience Cloud with its existing platforms, Air India has enhanced key customer touchpoints, from booking and check-in to departure and onboard engagement. Just-in-time notifications and contextual promotions are now delivered across channels, continually refined using insights from Adobe Analytics. The airline has deployed AEM's headless capabilities for consistent content delivery across mobile and web; introduced over 20 user-centric features via Adobe Target; and used RT-CDP to unify customer interactions across devices and sources. Adobe Campaign further enables precise audience segmentation, while dynamic media ensures fast, high-quality content rendering. 2. Operational Excellence 'An airline is a moving business. Aircrafts, crew, customers—all shift every hour,' Dr. Ramaswamy said. Achieving operational efficiency requires precise, real-time coordination across: Crew and aircraft scheduling Flight planning and route optimisation Engineering and maintenance operations Air India's OTP (On-Time Performance) has become a core KPI that blends customer satisfaction with logistical execution. Adobe's analytics and integration tools play a key role in keeping systems and decisions aligned with dynamic, real-world conditions. To attract and retain top aviation talent, Air India invested heavily in employee empowerment tools. 'Our flying staff don't come to a central office. So, we had to create a digital headquarters in their pocket,' said Dr. Ramaswamy. 4. Commercial Performance Beyond experience, the transformation is also driving revenue. 'We want to maximise yield and increase our share of direct channel bookings,' he said. Selling through direct channels like the app or website incurs less cost than third-party systems, and Adobe's capabilities across content, campaign, and journey optimisation are central to this strategy. A recent feature—eZ Booking—lets users type natural language commands like 'Book me a ticket from Mumbai to Delhi tomorrow, return next Wednesday,' and get results instantly, reducing friction in the booking process. In May 2023, Air India launched AI.g—the first generative AI chatbot in the global airline industry. AI.g has since handled over 10 million customer queries with a containment rate of 97%—dramatically outperforming the industry average of 70% for legacy bots. Older bots needed extensive manual training to recognise every possible user query. AI.g, by contrast, reads context from structured documents. For instance, if a customer types, 'Can I bring my labrador on board?', AI.g understands the intent and refers to the airline's pet policy—responding in a conversational, helpful manner that adjusts for the breed's size, weight restrictions, and cargo requirements. 'This tool saves millions of dollars each year,' said Dr. Ramaswamy. 'And more importantly, it improves the experience.' While GenAI has revolutionised customer support, agentic AI is redefining how decisions get made and work gets done. Unlike traditional systems that require API connections or robotic process automation (RPA), agentic systems can interface directly with people, sending emails, interpreting responses, and autonomously completing tasks. A standout use case is refund processing for downgraded tickets. Previously handled manually and taking up to four weeks, this process is now almost fully automated for category of such cases using agentic AI. The system evaluates cases, proposes actions, and requires only final human validation, reducing refund cycles to one day. Agentic AI also brings powerful reasoning capabilities. It can explain its decisions step-by-step: identifying the customer's issue, mapping it to policy categories, applying rules, and justifying the response. This kind of logic-based transparency builds trust internally and externally. 'Marketing has always been a guessing game,' said Dr. Ramaswamy. 'With agentic AI, we stop guessing.' Air India is now developing customer-specific AI agents that function as digital twins—learning preferences, habits, and purchase patterns over time. Auto check-in passengers Flag delay-based rebookings Suggest hyper-relevant deals Approve marketing messages on behalf of the user 'Your AI agent knows what kind of fare you're looking for, when you want to travel, and what matters to you. So instead of us targeting you directly, we market to your agent. If it trusts the offer, it passes it on.' This approach transforms word-of-mouth into digital word-of-agent—a more trusted, accurate, and effective marketing channel. This transformation has been driven by close coordination across Adobe teams—Ultimate Success, Consulting Services, Solution Consulting, and Account Executives—all aligned with Air India's business goals and committed to delivering measurable outcomes. Adobe has been deeply embedded in Air India's journey from day one. 'They don't just deliver tools—they're passionate about our success,' said Dr. Ramaswamy. From Experience Manager to Campaign, Journey Optimiser, Analytics, and the Real-Time Customer Data Platform, Adobe provides a unified digital infrastructure that connects every piece of Air India's transformation puzzle. 'Shantanu Narayen, Anil Chakravarthy, and the entire Adobe leadership have been backing us. We work like one team, one mission.' This shared vision was globally recognised when Air India was honoured as the 2025 Adobe Experience Maker of the Year, a first for any Indian airline, and a testament to what bold ambition and deep collaboration can achieve. With 140+ systems rebuilt in under two years, new digital channels deployed, a first-of-its-kind GenAI chatbot in production, and the early implementation of agentic AI, Air India is not just transforming—it is setting a new global standard. Adobe's technology and co-innovation model has enabled this unprecedented pace and precision. And the result? A smarter airline. A more responsive experience. And a blueprint for what enterprise transformation truly looks like when tech, leadership, and purpose are aligned. This fireside chat between Dr. Satya Ramaswamy and Prativa Mohapatra was part of Adobe SUMMIT India 2025, where India's boldest digital transformation stories came to life on stage. Note to the Reader: This article has been produced on behalf of the brand by HT Brand Studio and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of Hindustan Times.


Mint
5 hours ago
- Mint
From Runway to Real-Time: Air India's Tech-Led Flight with Adobe
When the Tata Group bought back Air India in early 2022 it was more than just the rebirth of a national carrier, it signaled the start of one of the most ambitious digital transformation journeys in the aviation sector worldwide. Leading this renaissance is Satya Ramaswamy, Air India's Chief Digital and Technology Officer, who is spearheading a bold five-year plan to re-position the airline as a customer-focused, digitally-enabled global airline. Central to this transformation is Adobe, Air India's key strategic technology partner and co-innovator, who are not only supplying their solutions, but also their spirit of collaboration to energise Air India's digital reinvention. The story was spotlighted at Adobe SUMMIT India 2025, a platform showcasing how Indian enterprises are embracing AI, data, and experience-led growth, with Air India featured as a flagship example of purpose-driven reinvention. "Transformation is about people, process and technology — but above all, it's about purpose," said Satya, as he reflected on the airline's journey in conversation with Prativa Mohapatra, Vice President and Managing Director, Adobe India at Adobe SUMMIT India. This year's SUMMIT India focused on how leading Indian enterprises are adopting AI, data, and experience-led platforms to drive growth and innovation. It was a showcase of real-world stories where technology meets purpose, and Air India emerged as one of the standout transformation narratives. In recognition of this bold transformation, Air India was named the global Adobe Experience Maker of the Year 2025, a first for any Indian airline, and a defining moment in its digital comeback. This purpose is based on the vision of the airline to restore Air India to its former grandeur – a time when it was considered a model airline, internationally. Founded in 1932 by J.R.D. Tata, Air India had decades of international acclaim. However, several years of very difficult times followed. 'Despite difficult times, the people at Air India kept it going,' Satya noted, recalling stories like that of a woman commander who flew one of Air India's Boeing 777 aircraft to Rome at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic to repatriate Indian citizens, leaving behind her own young children and flying into the unknown. That resilient spirit, said Satya, was a key driver in the Tata Group's decision to bring Air India back into its fold. It wasn't just a business acquisition — it was a national mission. 'We believe in the future of India. And India had a rightful place in aviation once. Now, we need to give it back.' When Satya stepped into his role, the airline's technology stack was minimal, limited to systems required for regulatory compliance, like flight planning and crew management. 'A modern airline has around 140–150 systems,' he pointed out. 'We had to lay down practically everything from scratch.' With a clear mandate from Tata Group Chairman N. Chandrasekaran to prioritise customer experience, Satya and his team launched a digital overhaul that touched every part of the airline — on the ground, in the air, and in cyberspace. Adobe was a key partner in making this vision a reality. Air India reinvented its digital touchpoints - the website, mobile app, notification systems, in-flight entertainment systems, and AI.g, its increasingly popular customer chatbot - by implementing Adobe's Experience Cloud suite of tools. These touchpoints provided a unified, omnichannel customer experience informed by data, insight, and real-time personalisation. But digital transformation wasn't just customer-facing. From enterprise systems for finance and HR to operationally critical tools like crew management and engineering platforms, the airline's backend was rebuilt entirely. In a striking anecdote, Satya recalled visiting the old Air India data centre near Delhi Airport — a building so neglected that it was reportedly home to snakes and monkeys. Inside, the SAP mainframe chassis was literally falling apart. Rather than being deterred, Satya took decisive action. Working with partners including SAP, he led a high-risk, high-reward migration from that outdated mainframe to the cloud — a move that defied industry convention and succeeded through creativity, bold thinking, and precise execution. Any transformation is incomplete without people, and for Air India, a transformation in the workforce was monumental. To combine four airlines, it wasn't just the fleets and systems needed, it was the teams, mindsets, and cultures of the airlines that needed to be merged into a single unit. Prativa recounted examples of her own experiences with the cabin crew - one, a 26-year veteran, who adapted well to new digital products like iPads replacing bulky printed manuals; another, a younger crew member, navigating cultural shifts between different airline legacies. 'It's not just technology — it's four airlines, three generations, and five types of aircraft coming together.' — Prativa Mohapatra Satya agreed. Empowering cabin crew through technology, such as real-time customer data on iPads, has made a visible difference. 'Today, if someone misses a meal while sleeping, our crew proactively follows up to offer dessert or assistance. That's genuine Indian hospitality, elevated by tech.' Credit for this goes to leaders like Juli Ng, who brought her experience from Singapore Airlines and Scoot to build a high-performing crew organisation that now consistently delivers across flights. Training, data, and cultural empathy are enabling Air India's crew to become true brand ambassadors. Leading this kind of change, Satya emphasised, requires both imagination and rigour. 'Creativity and execution are two impactful superpowers.' — Dr. Satya Ramaswamy Whether escaping outdated infrastructure 'like Houdini' or driving a merger plan that ran 1,200 pages and involved over 600 meetings, the goal was always the same — do what it takes to make it work. And it wasn't without physical strain. 'People talk about mental load, but this was physically exhausting,' he admitted. 'Headaches that wouldn't go away, body aches from the stress. But the purpose kept us going.' That purpose also served to unify departments and tear down silos. Satya promoted two values from the start: the elimination of data silos, and the removal of the distinction between 'business' and 'IT.' The digital technology team created the connective tissue across functions and, by being present for decisions, provided context and insight, so every level of the organisation was working together. This concept of collaboration starts with the values of the Tata Group: humility, supportiveness, and performance. Chairman Chandrasekaran is a technologist himself, and he watched not only the outputs but the team dynamics closely. The culture he fostered encouraged the team to support one another and challenge each other. Looking ahead, Satya sees the future of customer experience and marketing rooted in agentic AI — a model where every customer has a dedicated digital twin within the airline. 'It knows your preferences, notices if you missed entering your loyalty number, and takes action on your behalf,' he explained. Instead of blasting campaigns with 50% effectiveness, agentic AI enables hyper-personalised, proactive engagement. 'This is the future of marketing,' Satya declared. 'It's not just powered by AI — it's made intelligent by empathy, context, and action.' Air India is already building these intelligent customer agents, which are expected to go live soon. Once implemented, this system will be capable of automatically booking tickets, managing loyalty concerns, and anticipating customer needs — all in real time. Adobe's role in this future is central. Its Experience Cloud tools such as Adobe RT-CDP not only enable today's personalised journeys, but also provide the platform for tomorrow's agentic, autonomous experiences, experiences that redefine what it means to fly. With over 570 aircraft on order, the airline is scaling aggressively. Satya is hawk-eyed about the opportunity: 'When we are fully built out, Air India will likely be bigger than the largest of the global carriers today.' As India's global presence grows, so does its national carrier — not just in size, but in digital sophistication. For Adobe, this journey with Air India isn't just a case study in transformation, it's a testament to what's possible when purpose-driven leadership meets platform-led innovation. From the tarmac to the cloud, from loyalty programs to predictive agents, this partnership is charting a new course for global aviation — one that's made in India, built on Adobe, and designed for the world. This fireside chat between Dr. Satya Ramaswamy and Prativa Mohapatra was part of Adobe SUMMIT India 2025, where India's boldest digital transformation stories came to life on stage. Note to the Reader: This article has been produced on behalf of the brand by HT Brand Studio and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of Mint.


Time of India
7 hours ago
- Time of India
DGCA takes action against Air India over overdue emergency slide inspection
Advt Advt By , ETInfra India's aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), has initiated enforcement action against Air India after it found that the inspection of an emergency slide on one of its aircraft was overdue. As per a PTI report, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol informed the Rajya Sabha of the development on Monday."DGCA immediately grounded the aircraft till the required rectification was carried out. DGCA has initiated enforcement action against Air India and the responsible personnel as per Enforcement Policy and Procedure Manual of DGCA," the minister said in a written statement was in response to a query by DMK member Tiruchi Siva, who had asked whether the government was aware that Air India aircraft were allowed to operate with overdue emergency slide inspections in the weeks preceding the crash of flight AI 171 in June. He also asked whether accountability had been fixed on the regulator for any oversight details such as the date of the audit or when enforcement action was initiated were not monitoring and compliance measuresMohol said the DGCA monitors compliance with safety and maintenance standards through surveillance, spot checks and night checks of airlines and their personnel."In case of violation, DGCA takes enforcement action in accordance with procedures prescribed in Enforcement Policy and Procedure Manual. The enforcement action consists of warning, suspension, cancellation including imposition of financial penalty to the airlines/ personnel. DGCA officials are trained to perform the oversight and enforcement function," he recent months, Air India has been under scrutiny by the DGCA for various compliance-related 12 June, a Boeing 787-8 aircraft operated by Air India crashed into a building shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad on flight AI 171 to London Gatwick. The incident resulted in 260 deaths.