Air India cancels 60 India-US flights in Nov-Dec citing aircraft shortage

Non-availability of aircraft due to maintenance issues has forced Tata Group-owned Air India to cancel some 60 flights on the India-US routes between November and December this year, according to an airline source.

The flights, which have been cancelled during the peak travel period, include services to San Francisco and Chicago, among others, the source said.

Air India, in a statement, said it has cancelled a "small" number of flights between November and December on account of delayed return of some aircraft from heavy maintenance and supply chain constraints, without naming the destinations.

It also said that affected customers have been "informed" and offered flights on other Air India group services operating on the same or adjacent days.

"Air India has cancelled some 60 flights to and from San Francisco, Washington, Chicago, Newark and New York between November 15 and December 31, as it does not have adequate wide-body aircraft to operate some of the flights to these destinations," the sources told PTI.

As part of this, Air India has cancelled 14 flights on the Delhi-Chicago route, 28 flights on the Delhi-Washington route, 12 flights between the Delhi-SFO route, four flights on the Mumbai-New York route as well as two flights on the Delhi-Newark route, the sources 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 added.

"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 end-December," an Air India spokesperson said.

Affected customers have been informed and 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, the spokesperson said, adding, "Air India sincerely regrets the inconvenience caused by this constraint beyond our control".

Air India currently operates five 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.