More than seven out of every ten aircraft reviewed in the Air India fleet have indicated recurring technical defects, as per the official data tabled in the Parliament. This places the group at the top among Indian carriers evaluated for repetitive deficiencies. The figure was presented in the Lok Sabha by Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol.
As per the data, 191 of 267 aircraft run by the Air India Group were found to have repetitive faults during examinations held since January last year. Within the group, 137 out of 166 Air India planes and 54 out of 101 Air India Express aircraft were identified to have recurring issues during inspections. aviation audit on air india,
Air India responded by citing the higher numbers to caution-led checks. “We have, out of abundant caution, carried out check across our fleet. Hence, numbers are are higher,” and Air India official stated, as quoted by NDTV.
A senior Air India executive further explained that aircraft checks were carried out on multiple equipment categories, which are grouped into A, B, C, and D segments based on priority and urgency. “In case of Air India, most of the issues are with category D, which includes items like seats, screens (on the back seats), tables, and so on. These are not related to the safety of the aircraft,” the executive mentioned, as reported by PTI. The executive further added that the airline expects these concerns to be relieved as the narrow-body retrofit programme will be launched over the next two years.
Air India, IndiGo, SpiceJet, Akasa under scrutiny
Beyond Air India, the Centre mentioned that 754 aircraft across six scheduled airlines were inspected for recurring deficiencies. A total of 377 aircraft were marked for repetitive technical issues. Indigo had 405 aircraft evaluated, out of which 148 were flagged with repetitive defects. Akasa Air had 14 flights identified out of 32 examined, and SpiceJet accounted for 16 aircraft out of the 43 that were evaluated.
What is DGCA’s stance on safety oversight?
The government also shared details on DGCA oversight actions. Last year, the regulator conducted 3,890 surveillance inspections. In which 84 examinations were done on foreign aircraft (SOFA), 56 regulatory audits were held, and 492 ramp inspections were carried out, as reported by PTI. A total of 874 spot checks were also done, and 550 night surveillance scrutinies were done under unplanned oversight.
The government has also informed the Parliament that DGCA had 637 sanctioned technical posts in 2022. To boost strengthening capacity, this post has been raised to 1,063.