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Air India trimming international wide-body operations by 15%
June 20th 2025
Air India will trim back its international schedule to allow time for enhanced safety inspections of its wide-body fleet. Read More » It also will fly less frequently to the Middle East as the Israel-Iran conflict continues. The inspections have been ordered by India’s regulator following the fatal crash of AI171 on June 12. “Given the compounding circumstances Air India is facing, to ensure stability of our operations, better efficiency and minimal inconvenience to passengers, Air India has decided to reduce international services flown by its wide-body aircraft by 15% for the next few weeks. The cuts will be implemented between now and June 20 and will continue until at least mid-July,” the carrier said. Air India added that “due to the geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, night curfews in the airspaces of many countries in Europe and East Asia, the ongoing enhanced safety inspections and the necessary cautious approach being taken by the engineering staff and Air India pilots, there have been certain disruptions in our international operations in the last six days leading to 83 cancellations.” Criticism of the airline’s handling of the AI 171 tragedy is increasing. So far, there has been only one press conference since the fatal crash and updates have been irregular. On June 17, aviation officials barred reporters from entering the aviation ministry building in Delhi. The lack of information and transparency contributed to increased speculation and panic. “More than 80 Air India flights have been cancelled in the last week, some due to technical issues, compounded by passengers panicking about faulty air conditioning and entertainment systems as potential omens of impending flight failure,” Bloomberg India Edition reports.
