A320neo Air India takeoff 1 scaled
Air India, the former state-owned Indian carrier now owned by the Indian conglomerate the Tatas, flew an Airbus A320 aircraft eight times on November 24 and 25 this year, even though it was not airworthy, the Economic Times, a leading economic daily of India, reported on Tuesday. This is not the week Airbus wants any more attention drawn to the A320.
The newspaper report adds that a 164-seater Airbus A320 had flown 8 times before an engineer discovered the lapse, and the aircraft was taken out of service. The Indian civil aviation watchdog, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), is investigating this issue.
To fly an aircraft in India, the DGCA must issue it a Certificate of Airworthiness. This certificate ensures that the DGCA has inspected the aircraft and that it is safe to fly.
The report adds that the DGCA is likely to impose a heavy penalty and take action against the airline’s top officials.
DGCA takes action
By late afternoon today, the DGCA took action, instructing the operator (Air India) to ground the aircraft and start an inquiry. The DGCA statement adds that the Airworthiness Review Certificate (ARC) is in progress. The statement adds that “concerned personnel have been de-rostered with immediate effect pending Investigation.”
It adds that Air India, on the instructions of the DGCA, is carrying out “an internal investigation to identify deficiencies in its system and has put constructive measures in place to prevent such failures in the future.” The statement adds that on November 26, Air India informed the DGCA about flying  the aircraft on an expired arc on “eight revenue sectors.”
Ironic
Ironically, the story of the AI aircraft flying when it was not airworthy was published on the day the airline ran an advertisement that said, “Change is in the air.” The ad says that the transformation you have been waiting for is here. “We’ve introduced new and upgraded cabins in over 100 aircraft flying domestic and short-haul international routes.”
A series of articles has appeared in the Indian media recently on cabin upgrades and the services on offer to passengers.
Tatas took over Air India in 2022
The Tatas took over Air India in 2022 and, the following year, ordered 470 new aircraft from both Airbus and Boeing, valued at a list price of $70 billion. Manufacturers are known to offer discounts from the list price based on how many aircraft the airline has ordered.
Despite a large order of aircraft, it seems to be an uphill task for Tata Sons to run the airline, which was started by J R D Tata in the 1930s. After India gained independence from the British in 1947, Air India was nationalized in 1953. The airline, after transferring to the Tata group in 2022, has faced criticism for a variety of issues, including passengers being given unserviceable seats and a first-class passenger taking to X to complain about his bad experience while flying the airline.
While some of the blame will fall at the door of the Tatas, the fact that cannot be overlooked is that Air India, which they took over, had old planes and a bloated workforce. Before the 2024 order, Air India had not ordered aircraft since the late 1990s, making many of the aircraft in service face a variety of problems.
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