Due to the unavailability of staff and aircraft being grounded due to maintenance-related issues leading to a depleted fleet strength, the Tata group-owned Air India is facing difficulty in operating flights, especially on its international routes, according to insiders.
"Air India has been forced to cancel six international flights in the last six weeks due to shortage of manpower and aircraft, while on 14 other occasions, flights have been delayed by more than 4 hours," a senior official with the airline said.
The airline's flights to the US, Canada and Europe have been the most affected by cancellations and delays with nine flights to different cities in Europe being delayed by more than 4 hours in the last six weeks and three being cancelled.
Similarly, two flights from the US and one flight to Canada have been cancelled in the last six weeks, while four flights to the US and one to Canada were delayed by more than 4 hours.
Last week, on June 6 an Air India flight with 216 passengers to San Francisco was forced to divert to Magadan in Russia after a problem was reported with one of its engines. The airline had to send a rescue flight to evacuate the passengers, who faced a delay of about 40 hours.
"Since Air India has an ageing fleet, we have been forced to cancel some of our international flights due to technical snags which have then been addressed in a day or two," the official added.
Another Air India official said that the airline has been seeing high demand for all its flights to the US, Canada and Europe in 2023 and is doing its best to meet the demand.
He added that the shortage of spare parts has been the prime reason behind flight cancellations of late. "Air India was earlier forced to cancel some flights to the US due to capacity constraints, we are very confident that we will be able to provide a memorable experience for our customers with our current fleet," the official said.
A third official said that the airline informs its customers beforehand about any delays and cancellations. If a flight is cancelled, the airline accommodates passengers on later flights, he added.
Emails sent to Air India remained unanswered at the time of publishing.
Air India is the only domestic air operator flying ultra-long-haul routes. An ultra-long-haul flight is one that operates for more than 16 hours.
The airline has been facing a manpower shortage leading to delays and cancellations since February. It has also cancelled flights to the US due to the same reason.
In March, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said that the airline will cut six flights per week to the US due to a shortage of crew.
Air India in total uses seven Boeing 777-200, 12 Boeing 777-300ER and 24 Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft on its international routes. It operates 13 flights to multiple locations in the US from Mumbai, 27 from Delhi and three from Bengaluru to San Francisco every week.
Air India also operates seven flights a week between Delhi and France, 17 flights a week between Delhi and Heathrow (UK), 14 flights a week between Mumbai and Heathrow, three flights a week between Amritsar and Birmingham (UK) and three flights a week between Delhi and Birmingham.
This is apart from four weekly flights to Amsterdam’s Airport Schiphol, three flights a week between Delhi and Vienna International Airport, four flights a week between Delhi and Milan’s Malpensa Airport, and three flights a week between Delhi and Copenhagen.
The airline also operates three weekly flights between Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad to London’s Gatwick Airport, three flights a week between Amritsar and Gatwick and four flights a week each from Goa and Cochin International Airport to Gatwick.
Passengers affected
On May 22, Air India’s direct flight between Vancouver and Delhi was delayed by 12 hours and then cancelled.
Kevin George, a student in Vancouver, said that as a result, he missed his connecting flight to Kolkata and was forced to book a new ticket to that city to attend a wedding.
Several passengers have taken to Twitter in the past couple of months to point out the delays in Air India’s international operations as well.
“There was an endless wait with no support and updates from the airline. The flight got delayed four times and then cancelled. The flight was full of senior citizens and kids," tweeted Rohit Maheshwari, a passenger of Air India's San Francisco-Mumbai flight on June 8 that was cancelled due to a technical snag.
Similarly, Jasmeen Kaur Gill took to Twitter on May 25 to complain about her flight between Delhi and Bangkok was delayed for nearly five hours and passengers were forced to wait in the plane.
"Yes, they (Air India's inflight cabin crew) do not seem to care much and in fact entered into a verbal altercation with travellers. Please get us deboarded. People are feeling sick," Gill tweeted in response to Air India asking her to get in touch with the inflight crew.
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