New Delhi: After the plane crash in Ahmedabad on June 12, Air India cancelled 84 flights within just nine days. On Friday alone, nine flights were cancelled, including both domestic and international routes.
Another flight had to be cancelled after it was hit by a bird during its journey from Delhi to Pune. This growing number of cancellations has raised questions in the minds of crores of passengers.
The airline issued two statements over the last two days, explaining that flights are being cancelled due to maintenance and operational reasons. The first statement announced a reduction of up to 15 percent in wide-body aircraft flights.
The second statement, issued the next day, clarified that the reduction will be effective from June 21 and will continue till at least July 15. On Thursday, Air India said it would cancel 38 international flights per week during this period, and that three key international routes – Delhi to Nairobi, Amritsar to London (Gatwick), and Goa (Mopa) to London (Gatwick) – will remain suspended entirely until July 15.
Despite these explanations, many passengers are not convinced. They are questioning the sudden scale of maintenance being carried out across the fleet and whether the airline is using technical terms to hide more serious problems.
People are asking whether the airline remembered the need for such widespread maintenance only after the Ahmedabad crash. Others are wondering if Air India has become overly cautious after the tragedy, which has prompted a major review of flight operations and safety checks.
The airline said that the reduction in flights is also due to longer travel times caused by airspace restrictions in the West Asia region, as well as a decision to increase pre-flight safety checks. This has impacted several major international routes, including those connecting Delhi to Toronto, Vancouver, San Francisco, Chicago, and Washington.
