AI 787 Safety: No Issues Found – DGCA Survey
- The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has voiced concerns regarding recent maintenance-related issues affecting Air India, leading to flight delays and cancellations. The regulator has directed the...
- DGCA officials, led by DG Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, met with Air India Managing Director Campbell Wilson, Director of Flight Operations Captain Pankul Mathur, Air India Express CEO Aloke...
- The regulator has asked Air India to ensure adequate spares are available to mitigate delays and adhere to regulations.
The DGCA completed a thorough review of Air India‘s Boeing 787 fleet, and the findings are in: all aircraft are compliant wiht existing safety standards. Addressing recent flight disruptions, the DGCA, led by DG Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, met with Air India executives to discuss maintenance, internal coordination, and operational robustness. Although acknowledging maintenance-related issues and resulting flight delays, the DGCA’s surveillance revealed no major safety concerns. Air India has been directed to enhance safety measures, including a real-time defect reporting mechanism. For aviation updates, News Directory 3 provides complete coverage. The regulator found the current fleet to be safe. Discover what’s next for Air India’s 787s and future aviation safety measures.
DGCA Addresses Air India Flight Delays Amid Maintenance Concerns
Updated June 17, 2025
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has voiced concerns regarding recent maintenance-related issues affecting Air India, leading to flight delays and cancellations. The regulator has directed the airline to prioritize safety and strengthen internal coordination across its engineering, operations, and ground handling units.
DGCA officials, led by DG Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, met with Air India Managing Director Campbell Wilson, Director of Flight Operations Captain Pankul Mathur, Air India Express CEO Aloke Singh, and other airline representatives. The meeting aimed to review Air India’s operations amid an increase in flights and to ensure continued compliance with safety and passenger service regulations.
The regulator has asked Air India to ensure adequate spares are available to mitigate delays and adhere to regulations. this directive follows a period of meaningful flight disruptions attributed to various factors, including airspace closures, aircraft shortages due to technical problems, and Boeing 787 checks.
Between last Thursday and Tuesday evening, Air India operated 462 flights using its wide-body fleet, which includes Boeing 787s, B777s, and Airbus A350s. During this period, 83 flights were canceled.Boeing 787s, one of which experienced an incident in Ahmedabad, accounted for nearly 80% of these cancellations, despite operating just over half of the long-haul flights.
Following the meeting, the DGCA stated that recent surveillance of Air India’s Boeing 787 fleet did not reveal any major safety concerns. The aircraft and associated maintenance systems were found to be compliant with existing safety standards.
Air India currently operates 33 boeing 787s. According to the DGCA,four of these aircraft are undergoing major checks. As of July 17, 24 aircraft had completed the required checks, with two more scheduled for completion on Tuesday and one on Wednesday. The remaining six include two grounded in Delhi, which will be checked before returning to service, and four undergoing mandated maintenance checks.
The DGCA has instructed Air India to implement a systematic and real-time defect reporting mechanism to ensure that operational and safety-critical departments receive timely updates.
What’s next
Air India is expected to implement the DGCA’s directives to improve its maintenance operations and reduce flight disruptions. The airline will likely focus on enhancing its internal coordination and ensuring the availability of necessary spare parts to minimize delays and cancellations.