Skip to main content

70% Of Air India Planes Have Recurring Technical Issues: Centre

More than seven out of every ten aircraft reviewed in the Air India Group fleet have shown recurring technical defects, according to official data tabled in Parliament on Thursday, putting the airline group at the top of the list among Indian carriers reviewed for such issues.

The figures, presented in the Lok Sabha by Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol, reveal that 191 of the 267 aircraft operated by Air India Group were identified with repetitive defects during inspections conducted since January last year.

Within the Air India Group, 137 of 166 Air India aircraft and 54 of 101 Air India Express planes were found to have recurring issues during inspections.

Responding to the data, an Air India official said, "We have, out of abundant caution, carried out checks across our fleet. Hence, numbers are higher."

Offering further clarification, a top Air India executive said there are different types of equipment which are checked on planes and that these are categorised into A, B, C and D segments, depending on priority and urgency.

"In case of Air India, most of the issues are with category D, which includes items like seats, tray tables, screens (on the back of seats) and so on. These are not related to the safety of the aircraft," the executive said.

The executive added that "as the retrofit programme for narrow-body aircraft rolls out over the next two years, these issues will be resolved too."

Across the industry, a total of 754 aircraft belonging to six scheduled airlines were analysed for recurring deficiencies, of which 377 planes were flagged for repeated technical issues.

India's largest carrier IndiGo had 405 aircraft examined during the period. Of these, 148 planes were identified as having repetitive defects as of February 3 this year, the data showed.

Other airlines also reported such defects, with SpiceJet recording 16 affected aircraft out of 43 analysed, while Akasa Air saw 14 aircraft flagged from 32 reviewed planes.

The government also shared details of aviation safety oversight carried out by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). During the previous year, the regulator conducted 3,890 surveillance inspections, 56 regulatory audits, 84 checks on foreign aircraft, and 492 ramp inspections as part of planned monitoring.

In addition, 874 spot checks and 550 night surveillance inspections were carried out under unplanned safety oversight activities, the minister said.

On staffing, the government informed Parliament that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the aviation regulator, had 637 sanctioned technical posts in 2022, a number that has now been increased to 1,063 following a restructuring exercise aimed at strengthening regulatory capacity.



from NDTV News- Special https://ift.tt/gDm9us1

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

PM Modi To Reschedule 3-Nation Europe Visit As Tensions With Pakistan Soar

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has put his three-nation Europe visit on hold as tensions between India and Pakistan have surged in the wake of the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam in which 26 civilians were killed by Pak-linked terrorists in a religiously-motivated terror attack. India responded on Wednesday with precision missile strikes on terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. PM Modi, who is closely-monitoring the situation, has reportedly asked for his visit to Croatia, Norway, and the Netherlands, which was due next week, to be rescheduled. As per his original schedule Prime Minister Modi was to commence his official visit to the three nations on May 13. He was also going to participate in the India-Nordic Summit in Oslo on May 15 and 16. All three countries have been informed about the change in PM Modi's schedule. They have also been appraised about the current situation between India and Pakistan. Last month too, on the day of the Pahalga...

Delhi to Get More EV Charging, Battery Swapping Stations as Cab Aggregators Increase E-Bikes

The NDMC is planning to increase the number of EV charging stations in Lutyens' Delhi and even provide battery swapping facilities at some of these points, a senior official said on Wednesday. With Delhi being among the most polluted capitals in the world, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has been making a push for electric vehicles to nudge residents to opt for cleaner vehicle options. There are around 100 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations across the national capital at present and this would be the first time that some of them would have battery swapping facilities, which is quite prominent in Western countries, he said. The official said the aim is to provide easy accessibility to charging stations and to save time by providing swapping facilities. This will give a major push to EVs in the city. Various PSUs, including the Rajasthan Electronics and Instruments Limited (REIL) and the Kerala State Electronics Development Corporation Limited (KELTRON), have approac...

After Nitish Kumar's 'Praise', BJP Says Doors Closed For Him

The opposition BJP in Bihar on Thursday said that its doors were "closed" for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who dumped the saffron party a year ago, stripping it of power in the state. State BJP President Samrat Choudhary made the averment to this effect in reply to queries from journalists about the Janata Dal United leader's address to the convocation ceremony of Mahatma Gandhi Central University at Motihari. Speaking in the presence of President Droupadi Murmu and Governor Rajendra Arlekar, Mr Kumar had freely spoken of the tussle he had with the then Congress government at the Centre for getting a university approved for Motihari, where Mahatma Gandhi had launched the Champaran Satyagraha. Without mentioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi by name, Mr Kumar acknowledged that the project saw the light of the day only after a change of guard "in 2014" as the UPA government "initially refused and after much persuasion agreed in principle but did not move for...