The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) held a high-level meeting with senior officials of M/s. Air India Ltd. and Air India Express, which are currently operating over 1,000 flights daily across domestic and international sectors, on June 17, 2025. The DGCA is discussing with aviation companies and operators to review the operational robustness of the airlines and ensure continued compliance with safety and passenger service regulations.
One of the key issues of the meeting, which was held on June 17, 2025, was the increasing delay in flights relating to maintenance. As told in the release, DGCA also expressed concerns about the inclination in technical issues that are making the flyers go through a lot of major concerns. Discussions on strengthening internal coordination across departments such as engineering, operations, and ground handling were also suggested by the DGCA to the airline operators during the meeting.
As told by the press release issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the meeting also addressed the impact of airspace restrictions, particularly the recent closures over Iranian airspace. The concerns over the tensions in the Middle East have caused significant diversions, delays, and cancellations. However, airlines have been directed to adopt alternate routing strategies and ensure real-time communication with both crew and passengers to minimise inconvenience.
As issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the DGCA also reviewed the results of the recent surveillance on Air India’s Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet. The result consisted of 33 aircraft (B787-8/9). The inspection revealed no major safety issues. The aircraft and maintenance systems were found compliant with prevailing standards.
However, DGCA has mandated an enhanced safety inspection of the entire B787 fleet. As of 3:00 PM on June 17, a total of 24 aircraft had successfully undergone the enhanced checks, with two more expected to be cleared by the end of the day and one more by tomorrow.
Four aircraft are currently undergoing major maintenance at MRO facilities, and two aircraft grounded in Delhi will be inspected before being returned to service.
Moreover, addressing the operators, the regulator (DGCA) also recommended the implementation of a more systematic and real-time defect reporting mechanism within their system.
Considering that passenger aircraft safety and regulatory compliance is one of the main focus of the regulators, DGCA while concluding the meeting stated that they will continue to closely monitor the performance and operational reliability of Air India and all other scheduled airlines.