Another Air India's AI2491 Mumbai-Lucknow flight cancelled due to ‘operational reasons' amid crash probe underway
After several Air India flights were cancelled, another AI2491 flight from Mumbai to Lucknow was cancelled citing 'operational reasons". The airline attributed this to the 'cascading impact of flights' which got diverted during heavy rains in Delhi and said the replacement crews couldn't be arranged due to the weather condition.
'AI2491 from Mumbai to Lucknow on 17 June 2025 was cancelled due to operational reasons and the cascading impact of flights which got diverted during the heavy rains in Delhi. Delayed arrival of diverted flights led to the operating crew coming under regulatory flight duty time limitations norms. Replacement crew could not be immediately arranged due to the weather-related delays and disruptions," Air India said in a statement.
The airline's spokesperson mentioned, 'Inconvenience caused to passengers is sincerely regretted and every effort has been made to minimise it by providing hotel accommodation to the affected passengers. Full refunds on cancellation or complimentary rescheduling was also offered to them if opted. Alternative arrangements are being made to fly the passengers to their destination Lucknow at the earliest.'
Seven international flights were cancelled on Tuesday. The total number of cancellations rose more than 80 since the devastating Ahmedabad crash, which has led to the aviation safety watchdog showcasing concerns about its maintenance practices.
While Air India cancelled six flights due to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) inspections, a San Francisco-Kolkata-Mumbai service had to be cut short in Kolkata because of an engine snag on the Boeing 777-200 aircraft. Additionally, the airline stated that its Ahmedabad to London Gatwick flight was canceled due to a lack of available aircraft.
DGCA directed Air India to provide the training records of the pilots and dispatchers involved in flight AI171, which crashed just moments after takeoff from Ahmedabad to London on June 12. The tragedy, which claimed the lives of over 270 people onboard the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and on the ground, has triggered the airline's most severe crisis since its acquisition by the Tata Group three and a half years ago.
Civil aviation regulator DGCA stated it met senior officials of Air India and Air India Express, which runs more than 1,000 domestic and international flights daily, to assess "operational robustness" and 'ensure continued compliance with safety and passenger service regulations.'
"DGCA raised concerns regarding recent maintenance-related issues reported by Air India," the statement added, noting the regulator has urged the airline to strengthen internal coordination across engineering, operations, ground handling units and ensure availiablity of adequate spares to avoid passenger delays.
However, it said that recent checks on Air India's Boeing 787 fleet "did not reveal any major safety concerns". According to DGCA, 'The aircraft and associated maintenance systems were found to be in compliance with existing safety standards.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hans India
41 minutes ago
- Hans India
Air India to cut narrowbody flights on 19 routes temporarily
New Delhi: Air India on Sunday announced that it will temporarily reduce 118 weekly flights operated with narrow-body aircraft across 19 routes and suspend operations on three routes. The decision follows closely on the heels of a previous announcement by the Tata Group-owned airline to cut international flights operated with wide-body aircraft by 15 per cent on a temporary basis. In a formal statement, the airline said it was implementing 'temporary cuts of less than 5 per cent to its overall narrow-body network.''This voluntary decision leads to the temporary suspension of Air India's services on 3 routes and reduction of frequency on 19 routes. The changes are effective until at least 15 July 2025,' it weekly flights on the Bengaluru-Singapore, Pune-Singapore, and Mumbai-Bagdogra (AI551/552) routes will be suspended until at least mid-July. Additionally, flight frequencies on several key domestic routes—including Delhi-Bengaluru and Delhi-Mumbai—will be reduced as part of the operational adjustments.
Economic Times
6 hours ago
- Economic Times
DGCA to kickstart inspection of Air India's main hub
India's civil aviation regulator, DGCA, will commence a comprehensive review of Air India's Gurugram base, focusing on aircraft airworthiness and crew training records. This inspection, part of the annual surveillance program, is not directly triggered by the recent Ahmedabad plane crash. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads New Delhi: The civil aviation regulator will conduct a comprehensive review of Air India 's main base in Gurugram from Monday. The exercise, which was planned before the airline's plane crash in Ahmedabad on June 12, entails checking the carrier's records of aircraft and whether they are airworthy, along with training and duty period records of the flight crew, according to a document seen by inspection is part of the annual surveillance programme of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation ( DGCA ) and not triggered by the crash, said a senior DGCA official, who did not wish to be comes at a time when regulatory scrutiny of Air India's operations has increased following the crash. The DGCA has asked its inspectors to provide details of all inspections and audits conducted on Air India since DGCA has also revamped its audit procedure to make it more comprehensive. The revamp comes in the wake of the crash of Air India's Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft in Ahmedabad which killed 241 people on board and more than 30 on the ground."Traditionally, regulatory and safety oversight functions within Indian aviation have been conducted in silos, performing inspections and audits specific to their respective activities include planned or unplanned surveillance inspections, random spot checks and ramp inspections, which primarily assess compliance and safety within individual aviation segments," the DGCA said in a notice, a copy of which was seen by new framework marks a paradigm shift, aiming to evaluate the aviation ecosystem holistically, moving away from fragmented oversight models, it audits will examine three broad areas - the effectiveness of an organisation's Safety Management System, the robustness of its operational practices and its compliance with regulatory provisions.A senior official of the DGCA said these special audits will be conducted by officials with expertise in different areas such as air safety, airworthiness of aircraft, training standards of crew and air exercise will be conducted periodically for all airlines, airports, aircraft maintenance organisations and pilot training schools. "A serious incident or a crash or continuous non-compliance may trigger this audit but it will also be done periodically, giving prior notice to the company," the official Sunday, Air India said that it will temporarily reduce 118 weekly flights operated with narrow-body aircraft across 19 routes and suspend operations on three routes.
Time of India
7 hours ago
- Time of India
DGCA to kickstart inspection of Air India's main hub
New Delhi: The civil aviation regulator will conduct a comprehensive review of Air India 's main base in Gurugram from Monday. The exercise, which was planned before the airline's plane crash in Ahmedabad on June 12, entails checking the carrier's records of aircraft and whether they are airworthy, along with training and duty period records of the flight crew, according to a document seen by ET. The inspection is part of the annual surveillance programme of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and not triggered by the crash, said a senior DGCA official, who did not wish to be identified. It comes at a time when regulatory scrutiny of Air India's operations has increased following the crash. The DGCA has asked its inspectors to provide details of all inspections and audits conducted on Air India since 2024. The DGCA has also revamped its audit procedure to make it more comprehensive. The revamp comes in the wake of the crash of Air India's Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft in Ahmedabad which killed 241 people on board and more than 30 on the ground. Live Events "Traditionally, regulatory and safety oversight functions within Indian aviation have been conducted in silos, performing inspections and audits specific to their respective domains. These activities include planned or unplanned surveillance inspections, random spot checks and ramp inspections, which primarily assess compliance and safety within individual aviation segments," the DGCA said in a notice, a copy of which was seen by ET. The new framework marks a paradigm shift, aiming to evaluate the aviation ecosystem holistically, moving away from fragmented oversight models, it said. The audits will examine three broad areas - the effectiveness of an organisation's Safety Management System, the robustness of its operational practices and its compliance with regulatory provisions. A senior official of the DGCA said these special audits will be conducted by officials with expertise in different areas such as air safety, airworthiness of aircraft, training standards of crew and air navigation. The exercise will be conducted periodically for all airlines, airports, aircraft maintenance organisations and pilot training schools. "A serious incident or a crash or continuous non-compliance may trigger this audit but it will also be done periodically, giving prior notice to the company," the official said. On Sunday, Air India said that it will temporarily reduce 118 weekly flights operated with narrow-body aircraft across 19 routes and suspend operations on three routes.
