Air India has announced a 15 per cut in its wide-body international flights for the next few weeks as it looks to stabilise its operations.
The decision comes following delays and disruption caused by airspace closures and enhanced maintenance checks ordered by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
Air India engineers and pilots are also taking extra caution following last week’s fatal air crash resulting in 83 flights cancellations in past six days..
“Given the compounding circumstances that Air India is facing, to ensure stability of our operations, better efficiency and to minimise inconvenience to passengers, Air India has decided to reduce its international services on widebody aircraft by 15% for the next few weeks. The cuts will be implemented between now and 20 June and will continue thereafter until at least mid-July. This effectively adds to our reserve aircraft availability to take care of any unplanned disruptions, “ Air India said in statement on Wednesday.
After the crash in Ahmedabad, DGCA mandated inspection of airline’s 33 Boeing 787 aircraft. “Out of 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,” the airline said..
As a matter of added precaution, Air India will also undertake enhanced safety checks on its Boeing 777 fleet, it added.