Air India Cancels Multiple US Flights Till December-End Amid Aircraft Shortage

Air India has cancelled multiple flights on the India-US route due to aircraft shortage, the erstwhile national carrier said in a statement issued on Wednesday. The flights cancelled were scheduled to be operated between November and December.

"Due to the delayed return of some aircraft from heavy maintenance and supply chain constraints resulting in a temporary reduction in operating fleet, Air India regrets that a small number of flights have been cancelled between now and December-end," the airline said.

The affected customers have been offered flights on other Air India group services operating on the same or adjacent days, a free change to any other date or a full refund, it added.

An Air India sources told news agency PTI that around 60 flights on the India-US route have been cancelled. The airline, however, did not mention the number of affected flights in its official statement.

The flights, which have been cancelled during the peak travel period, include those scheduled for San Francisco, Washington, Chicago, Newark and New York, the persons privy to the development told PTI.

The airline had to announce the cancellations as it does not have adequate wide-body aircraft to operate some of the flights to these destinations, the sources told PTI.

Among the flights that have been cancelled are 14 on the Delhi-Chicago route, 28 on the Delhi-Washington route and 12 scheduled between Delhi and San Francisco, the report added.

Four flights on the Mumbai-New York route as well as two flights on the Delhi-Newark route have also been cancelled, the sources reportedly said.

"Air India is facing delays in getting aircraft from the MRO operator it is sending to for maintenance. Then some of its wide-body planes are also grounded due to technical issues. This has resulted in the shortage of aircraft and consequently in flight cancellations," they told PTI.

Currently, Air India currently operates five weekly flights between Delhi and Washington, while Delhi-JFK (New York) and Mumbai-JFK routes have seven flights per week. On the Delhi-Chicago route also, the airline operates seven flights per week.

Air India operates flights to San Francisco from three destinations — Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru.

Of this, Air India operates 11 flights per week, including one daily service on the Delhi-SFO route, while from Mumbai and Bangalore, it operates four flights per week.

Besides, Air India also operates three flights per week to Newark from Delhi and Mumbai.

With PTI inputs