Days after the fatal Air India AI 171 crash in Gujarat, the airline is reducing its international services on wide-body aircraft by 15 per cent for the next few weeks.
According to an official statement by Air India, the cuts will be implemented between June 18 and 20 and continue until at least mid-July. The decision has been taken to add to the airline's reserve aircraft availability to cover any unplanned disruptions.
Air India has given its passengers a choice to either reschedule their travel at no cost or receive a full refund, and the airline is attempting to accommodate its international passengers on alternate flights.
Giving an update regarding the investigation into the June 12 crash, Air India said that the investigating authorities are continuing their efforts to find out the reasons for the accident.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had mandated an enhanced safety inspection across Air India's Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 aircraft fleet. Out of the total 33 aircraft, inspections have now been completed on 26, and these have been cleared for service, while inspection of the remainder will be complete in the coming days.
Of late, Air India operations have been disrupted on multiple international routes. The conflict between Iran and Israel led to the diversion of 16 flights on Friday, June 13.
In the last two days, the airline has also faced technical issues on two wide-body aircraft.
An Air India flight bound for Delhi returned to Hong Kong on Monday morning (June 16), around 90 minutes after take-off, following a suspected technical issue flagged by the pilots.
Flight AI 315, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, requested to stay closer to Hong Kong, citing technical reasons before deciding to return to Hong Kong International Airport.
The flight in question took off at around 9:30 AM Indian Standard Time (IST) before circling back to the airport within 90 minutes, data from Flightradar24 showed. A detailed safety check of the aircraft was underway after it landed in Hong Kong.
All passengers and crew members were evacuated safely from the affected aircraft. The official also said that alternative arrangements were planned to fly the passengers to their destination, Delhi, at the earliest possible opportunity.
In a separate incident, a Chennai-bound British Airways Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was forced to return to London mid-air on Sunday, June 15, following a technical issue, the airline confirmed in a brief statement.
Flight BA 35, which was scheduled to depart from London Heathrow at 12:40 PM Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), took off with a delay at 1:16 PM GMT but was compelled to turn back after remaining airborne for nearly two hours, data from Flightradar24 showed.
British Airways said the aircraft returned to Heathrow “as a standard precaution” following reports of a technical issue. The airline added that the flight landed safely and all passengers and crew disembarked normally. The aircraft was initially scheduled to arrive in Chennai at 3:30 AM IST.
Outlook Traveller interviewed Captain P P Singh, an ex-Indian Air Force pilot who is now a commercial pilot and trainer for Nepal Airlines, about whether these latest incidents are cause for concern in the aviation industry and among passengers.
“There are nearly 1,200 787 Dreamliners in operation across the world,” Singh, who has over 31 years of experience in civil aviation, says. “Due to the Air India plane crash on June 12, the spotlight has shifted onto the particular variant of the 787-8. This is a typical news cycle that will flag such incidents for some time. The spotlight was on the Boeing 737 MAX a few years; slowly that has been put on the backburner.
“At the moment, we don’t see a latent problem in the Dreamliner fleet that has been in service for 12-13 years.”
When asked about the technical snags that affected the Air India flight from Hong Kong to Delhi and the British Airways flight from London to Chennai, Singh said, “The electronic systems in the plane alerts pilots to something that is wrong. A red warning signifies that the plane must land as soon as possible at the closest airport. A yellow warning does not signify immediate distress; rather, pilots can choose whether to turn back or forge ahead depending on the situation.
“When this happens, they will call the airline company on Satcom and discuss the situation. The company can take a call on recalling the plane at the origin airport, ask the pilots to proceed to the destination as normal, or land at a facility that has ground handling and other necessary aircraft operations.
“For instance, if you’re on a flight from London to Khartoum, the company can recall the plane as it will be grounded for a long time at the destination airport, whereas if you’re flying to Hong Kong, you can land there without a problem.
“Thus, landing due to precautionary measures is commonplace in the aviation industry and does not signify immediate distress. The question comes down to how comfortable pilots are with the status of the airborne plane. They will decide the best course of action depending on multiple factors, including passengers’ convenience, whether the airport they are landing in can adequately service the aircraft, the ground handling facilities, etc.”