Air India’s Boeing 787 Fleet Did Not Reveal Any Major Safety Concern: DGCA After High-Level Meeting With Airline Officials

New Delhi: The Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday held a high-level meeting with senior officials from Air India and Air India Express, to asses operational resilience and reaffirm both carriers’ adherence to safety standards and passenger service regulations. The meeting comes in wake of the tragic Air India flight AI-171 crash in Ahmedabad on Thursday.

According to the DGCA, Air India collectively operate over 1,000 daily flights across domestic and international routes. Today's meeting was convened to review the operational robustness of the airlines and ensure continued compliance with safety and passenger service regulations.

The aviation watchdog meeting with Air India officials focussed on key 7 areas including maintenance-related delays, airspace restrictions, passenger information and facilitation, B787 fleet surveillance, status of "enhanced safety inspection of B787-8/9 fleet, operation coordination and wide-body flight operational data.

DGCA on Air India maintenance related issues 

Raising concerns regarding maintenance-related issues reported by Air India, the aviation watch advised to strengthen internal coordination across engineering, operations, ground handling units  and ensure availability of adequate spares to mitigate passenger delays resulting from such issues and strictly adhere to regulations.

DGCA reviews air space closures

The DGCA reviewed airspace closures, particularly over Iranian airspace that have led to flight diversions, delays, and cancellations.

The watchdog has also asked operators to ensure timely communication with passengers and crew and adopt alternate routing strategies to minimise disruptions.

They have been reminded of their obligations under the relevant Civil Aviation Requirements Section 3 Series M Part IV & V, to inform passengers well in advance regarding delays and cancellations.

Emphasis was also placed on effective passenger facilitation and timely dissemination of information through all available channels.

Boeing 787 fleet did not reveal major security concern, says DGCA 

On Boeing B787 fleet surveillance, DGCA said that the recent surveillance conducted on Air India’s Boeing 787 fleet did not reveal any major safety concerns. The aircraft and associated maintenance systems were found to be compliant with existing safety standards.

DGCA on enhanced safety of Air India B787-8/9 fleet

As on June 17, 2025, the “Enhances Safety Inspection” mandated under Order Para 1 is applicable to the entire Air India B787-8/9 fleet, comprising 33 aircraft.

Of these, 4 aircraft are currently undergoing major checks at various MRO facilities. As of 3 pm on 17 June 2025, a total of 24 aircraft have successfully completed the required check.

An additional 2 aircraft are planned for completion today, with 1 more scheduled for tomorrow. The remaining 6 aircraft include 2 aircraft, which are presently AOG at Delhi.

The checks on these two will be carried out post-declaration of serviceability and prior to their return to service. The remaining 4 aircraft currently under MRO will undergo the mandated check prior to their release from the respective maintenance hangars.

DGCA has further recommended the implementation of a more systematic and real-time defect reporting mechanism to ensure that operational and safety-critical departments receive timely updates.

This is expected to enhance overall decision-making and reduce downstream disruptions.

The aviation watchdog also reviewed recent operational data for Air India’s wide-body operations, with specific attention to the Boeing 787 fleet.