No major concerns with AI’s Dreamliner fleet: DGCA | Company Business News

The aviation regulator on Tuesday reviewed the operations of Air India and subsidiary Air India Express, days after the AI Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crash in Ahmedabad killed over 260 people. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said it did not find any major safety concern in the Dreamliner fleet.

“Recent surveillance conducted on 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,” a DGCA statement said. On 12 June, Air India’s flight AI-171 bound for London Gatwick Airport from Ahmedabad International Airport crashed soon after take-off into a nearby medical college.

At a meeting with senior officials from both airlines, the regulator raised concerns over recent maintenance-related issues reported by Air India. The regulator advised the airline to strengthen internal coordination across engineering, operations and ground handling units. It was also advised to ensure availability of adequate spares to mitigate passenger delays and strictly adhering to regulations.

DGCA had earlier announced an enhanced safety inspection of Air India’s Dreamliner fleet of 33 aircraft. As on Tuesday, 26 Dreamliner aircraft successfully completed the required checks. One more aircraft is expected to be checked on Wednesday.

Four aircraft are undergoing major checks at different facilities across India and two aircraft are currently grounded. The checks on grounded aircraft will be carried out post-declaration of serviceability and prior to return to service.

DGCA also reviewed recent operational data for Air India’s wide-body operations, with specific attention to the Boeing 787 fleet.

Assessing the impact of airspace closure over Iran, Air India was asked to ensure timely communication with passengers and crew and adopt alternate routing strategies to minimize disruptions.

Air India was also asked to emphasize passenger facilitation and timely dissemination of information through all available channels on flight delays.

As per DGCA data, Air India’s daily wide-body operations have come down from 90 daily flights on 12 June to 55 daily flights till Tuesday. Its daily Dreamliner operations are down from 50 daily flights on 12 June to 30 on Tuesday.