Air India to slash flights to Oman, UAE and Qatar amid shortage of planes, crew

Air India

Air India will reduce the frequency of flights to Oman, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Qatar as a temporary measure to mitigate the problem of crew and plane shortage the airline faces.

Air India has cancelled one weekly flight on both sides between Delhi and Muscat, Delhi and Dubai, and Delhi and Abu Dhabi from the last week of April to the end of May, multiple sources said.

"Air India and Air India Express are aligning their networks causing several Air India flights to be cancelled," an Air India official said.

According to circulars issued by Air India to travel agents, the airline will not be operating its weekly Delhi-Muscat flight on Saturdays from April 29 to May 27 and its weekly Delhi-Doha flights on Sundays from April 30 to May 28.

Similarly, Air India will not be operating its Delhi-Dubai flight on Tuesdays from May 2 till May 30, and its Delhi-Abu Dhabi flights on Wednesdays from May 3 to May 31.

Another official from Air India said that the airline's decision to cut flights to the West Asian countries is part of the carrier's network restructuring to make the most of its fleet of planes.

"Air India will cut flights to the Middle East after Eid-ul-Fitr as traffic falls drastically after the Eid holidays in those countries, while domestic summer traffic in India will rise due to school vacations," the second official said.

He added that Air India has also temporarily increased the frequency of flights between India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in April to cash in on the traffic around Eid-ul-Fitr.

Air India Express has increased its number of services from Thiruvananthapuram to Dubai and Abu Dhabi from five to six, Thiruvananthapuram international airport said in a release on April 12.

Network alignment

The first official also said that in the next few months as Air India and AIX Connect, formerly AirAsia India, align their networks, several flights between India and West Asian countries may be affected.

"Air India and Air India Express are aligning their networks causing several Air India flights to Kozhikode, Indore, and Goa to be cancelled and for them to be replaced with Air India Express flights," the first official said.

Air India has been struggling with crew and plane shortages for the last six months as the airline looks to expand its international operations and grow under its new owners the Tata Group.

Turbulence on US routes as well

In March, Air India's Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Campbell Wilson said that the airline would reduce the frequency of flights to the United States (US) due to crew shortage.

“As of now, six weekly flights to the US ― three to Newark and three to San Francisco ― will be trimmed due to crew shortage for the coming two-three months,” Wilson had said.

Air India’s Delhi to San Francisco flight will be cancelled for over three months, its flight to Newark will be cancelled for over a month, and the flight from Mumbai to New York will be cancelled for the entirety of May.

The airline has been facing a shortage of crew after 1,500 employees accepted the voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) offered by the airline in June 2022.

The airline launched the first phase of VRS to 4,500 eligible employees above 40 years and who have completed 20 years of continuous employment.

The airline in March announced a second VRS for around 2,100 eligible employees.

According to the memo, permanent employees who are above 55 years of age or who have completed 20 years of service can opt for the VRS package.

At the time of its privatisation, the airline had about 12,085 employees, of whom 8,084 were the permanent staff.

Air India is also short of pilots for Boeing 777 aircraft and is looking to hire foreign pilots on a temporary basis to meet the demand.