
Another Air India's AI2491 Mumbai-Lucknow flight cancelled due to ‘operational reasons' amid crash probe underway
'AI2491 from Mumbai to Lucknow on 17 June 2025 was cancelled due to operational reasons and the cascading impact of flights which got diverted during the heavy rains in Delhi. Delayed arrival of diverted flights led to the operating crew coming under regulatory flight duty time limitations norms. Replacement crew could not be immediately arranged due to the weather-related delays and disruptions," Air India said in a statement.
The airline's spokesperson mentioned, 'Inconvenience caused to passengers is sincerely regretted and every effort has been made to minimise it by providing hotel accommodation to the affected passengers. Full refunds on cancellation or complimentary rescheduling was also offered to them if opted. Alternative arrangements are being made to fly the passengers to their destination Lucknow at the earliest.'
Seven international flights were cancelled on Tuesday. The total number of cancellations rose more than 80 since the devastating Ahmedabad crash, which has led to the aviation safety watchdog showcasing concerns about its maintenance practices.
While Air India cancelled six flights due to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) inspections, a San Francisco-Kolkata-Mumbai service had to be cut short in Kolkata because of an engine snag on the Boeing 777-200 aircraft. Additionally, the airline stated that its Ahmedabad to London Gatwick flight was canceled due to a lack of available aircraft.
DGCA directed Air India to provide the training records of the pilots and dispatchers involved in flight AI171, which crashed just moments after takeoff from Ahmedabad to London on June 12. The tragedy, which claimed the lives of over 270 people onboard the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and on the ground, has triggered the airline's most severe crisis since its acquisition by the Tata Group three and a half years ago.
Civil aviation regulator DGCA stated it met senior officials of Air India and Air India Express, which runs more than 1,000 domestic and international flights daily, to assess "operational robustness" and 'ensure continued compliance with safety and passenger service regulations.'
"DGCA raised concerns regarding recent maintenance-related issues reported by Air India," the statement added, noting the regulator has urged the airline to strengthen internal coordination across engineering, operations, ground handling units and ensure availiablity of adequate spares to avoid passenger delays.
However, it said that recent checks on Air India's Boeing 787 fleet "did not reveal any major safety concerns". According to DGCA, 'The aircraft and associated maintenance systems were found to be in compliance with existing safety standards.'
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Indian Express
5 hours ago
- Indian Express
Under scrutiny after AI 171 crash, Air India must take all commentary constructively with ‘grace and an open mind', CEO Campbell Wilson tells staff
With Air India going through a period of 'intense scrutiny'—internal as well as external—in the wake of the June 12 crash of its flight AI 171 in Ahmedabad, the Tata group airline's chief executive officer Campbell Wilson has urged employees to take 'all commentary constructively with grace and an open mind' and act wherever there is an opportunity to do so. Wilson also underscored that Air India's systems and culture must 'prize transparency and integrity as well as action'. 'It is natural that, following an accident, there is a period of intense scrutiny. Some of it must come from internal examination and self-reflection, while some of it will come from external parties. Sometimes the extra attention means that normal issues get misinterpreted or sensationalised, but sometimes the scrutiny highlights genuine areas for improvement. We must take all commentary constructively with grace and an open mind and, where there is an opportunity to act, must do so. For, as I have said before, continuous improvement is a hallmark of aviation, and it is why the industry has become so dramatically safer over the years,' Wilson said in a message to employees. Wilson's comments come close on the heels of a few highly publicised aircraft snags over the past few weeks, which have drawn significant public attention in the wake of the Ahmedabad air crash, in which 260 persons perished—241 of the 242 people on board, and another 19 on the ground. The airline is also understood to be under the scanner of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on safety-related issues. Over the past few weeks, Air India has been subject to a few regulatory actions by the DGCA, the latest being four show cause notices that were issued Wednesday—following voluntary disclosures from Air India—over lapses pertaining to inadequate cabin crew deployment, mandatory crew rest periods, and crew training and operational procedures. Of its own accord, the airline has taken a 'safety pause', which involves additional voluntary technical checks on aircraft and adopting a cautious approach in flight operations. 'As we approach the half-way mark of our Safety Pause, you will have read that we have now completed the inspection of fuel switches on our B737 fleet following the earlier exercise on our B787s. In both cases, nothing untoward was found. Reliability enhancement work, using the additional ground time made available by the Pause, continues, while partial restoration of our temporary schedule reduction commences on 1st August ahead of full restoration planned for 1st October,' Wilson told staff. A preliminary investigation report into the tragic accident said that the Air India Boeing 787-8 aircraft crashed after both its engines were starved of fuel as the two fuel control switches transitioned from 'RUN' to 'CUTOFF' position within a second of each other moments after lift-off. Following the initial probe report, the airline started voluntary checks of the fuel control switches on its Boeing 787 fleet, which was followed by a DGCA directive to all operators to do so on most of the Boeing aircraft registered in India. 'To improve, our culture and systems must prize transparency and integrity as well as action. And to support this, in recent years we have improved training and promulgated SOPs (standard operating procedures) to give direction and clarity, strengthened standards, instilled processes to drive compliance and consistency, and introduced performance management practices to rise higher,' Wilson told staff. The Air India CEO added that the airline has invested significantly in the adoption of digital systems to replace paper-based ones, in order to have 'more complete, accurate, accessible and usable data' that does not reside in silos. He said that Air India has focussed on improving reporting—on safety or other matters—by 'making it easier to do' with more encouragement and better protection for those reporting. 'But ultimately, performance and improvement are dependent on people. People following prescribed processes. People acting in a conscientious manner. People striving to do better. People doing the right thing, all the time, not just when someone else is watching,' Wilson said. 'It has been a challenging period for many, and we continue to provide support wherever needed. But I remain incredibly proud of the work being done to deliver the Air India experience to our customers. And our customers are acknowledging the effort through their responses to our post-flight surveys. So far in July more than 100,000 have taken the opportunity to give such feedback, and have collectively delivered us an all-time record high NPS (net promoter score) of +34. FY23's NPS was -17, FY24 was -3 and last year was +16,' the Air India CEO added. NPS is seen as an indicator of customer loyalty and satisfaction. It measures the willingness of customers to recommend a product or service to others. Sukalp Sharma is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express and writes on a host of subjects and sectors, notably energy and aviation. He has over 13 years of experience in journalism with a body of work spanning areas like politics, development, equity markets, corporates, trade, and economic policy. He considers himself an above-average photographer, which goes well with his love for travel. ... Read More


The Hindu
6 hours ago
- The Hindu
Watch: Air India crash: unpacking what went wrong and what's next
The Air India Boeing 787 crash at Ahmedabad, on June 12, raises questions about air safety in the context of India's fast-growing aviation market. The accident shifts the spotlight to the state of the aviation ecosystem in India and related issues such as crew training, the issue of crew fatigue, maintenance and also regulator oversight. As this is the first accident for the aircraft type, there will be renewed global scrutiny, especially as the manufacturer, Boeing, is dealing with a series of issues related to its manufacturing. The company had faced much scrutiny earlier over safety issues linked to some of its aircraft families, such as the Boeing 737. What are the factors that could have caused the crash? Will there be a transparent investigation? Presentation: Murali N Krishnaswamy Production: Shikha Kumari A
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Business Standard
6 hours ago
- Business Standard
Air India has improved training, strengthened standards: CEO Wilson
Air India has improved training, strengthened standards and has been focused on improving reporting about safety and other matters, the airline's CEO Campbell Wilson said on Friday. Against the backdrop of its plane crash that killed 260 people on June 12, Wilson said it is natural that there is a period of intense scrutiny following an accident and that all commentary must be taken constructively with grace and an open mind. The Tata Group-owned airline, which has come under intense scrutiny following the accident, has taken certain measures, including temporary curtailment of flights and completion of inspection of its Boeing 787 and 737 fleets. In recent years, Wilson said the airline has improved training and promulgated Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to give direction and clarity, strengthened standards, instilled processes to drive compliance and consistency, and introduced performance management practices to rise higher. "We have focussed on improving reporting, whether it be of safety or other matters, by making it easier to do, more encouraged, more protected and put to more use, and we have adopted philosophies such as those from Baines-Simmons to take opportunities for organisational learning and improvement before jumping to blame or punishment," he said in a message to Air India staff. Baines-Simmons is a leading aviation safety training and consulting firm. There have been some incidents involving Air India planes in recent weeks, and aviation regulator DGCA has also issued show cause notices for certain violations following voluntary disclosures made by the carrier. "We have invested significantly in the adoption of digital systems to replace paper-based ones, so that we have more complete, accurate, accessible and usable data that does not reside in silos," Wilson said. According to him, sometimes the extra attention means that normal issues get misinterpreted or sensationalised, but sometimes the scrutiny highlights genuine areas for improvement. "We must take all commentary constructively with grace and an open mind and, where there is an opportunity to act, must do so," he noted. Wilson, who is the CEO and MD, highlighted that the airline's Net Promoter Score (NPS) touched an all-time record high in July. NPS is an indicator of passenger satisfaction across various touch points. "... so far in July more than 1,00,000 have taken the opportunity to give such feedback, and have collectively delivered us an all-time record high NPS score of +34. "FY23's NPS was -17, FY24 was -3 and last year was +16 so, to close on the opening theme, this steady upward progression is yet another example of continuous improvement in action," he said. The airline has completed the inspection of fuel switches on its B737 fleet following the earlier exercise on its B787s. "In both cases, nothing untoward was found. Reliability enhancement work, using the additional ground time made available by the Pause, continues, while partial restoration of our temporary schedule reduction commences on 1st August ahead of full restoration planned for 1st October," Wilson said. Air India is observing 'Safety Pause', the deliberate temporary scale-back of its international and domestic networks, after the crash of its London Gatwick-bound Boeing 787-8 aircraft soon after take off from Ahmedabad, killing 260 people on June 12.