Government data showed that 377 of 754 aircraft audited since January last year had recurring defects, with Air India Group accounting for 191 flagged planes and IndiGo reporting 148 aircraft with repeat snags.
Around half the aircraft examined for technical deficiencies across Indian carriers have shown recurring defects, with Air India Group and IndiGo accounting for the largest share, according to data tabled in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
The government said 754 aircraft from six scheduled airlines were analysed for repetitive snags since January last year. Of these, 377 were flagged for recurring defects.
IndiGo had the highest number of aircraft reviewed. As of February 3, 405 IndiGo planes were analysed, and 148 were identified as having repetitive defects, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol told the House in a written reply.
Air India Group recorded a far higher ratio. Of the 267 aircraft checked across Air India and Air India Express, 191 were found with recurring issues, nearly 72 per cent of the fleet audited. The data showed that 137 of 166 Air India aircraft had repetitive defects, while 54 of 101 Air India Express planes were similarly flagged.
Other carriers also featured on the list. Of 43 SpiceJet aircraft analysed, 16 were identified for recurring defects, while Akasa Air saw 14 aircraft flagged out of 32 reviewed.
Responding to the figures, an Air India spokesperson said the airline had conducted extensive checks across its fleet “out of an abundance of caution”, which pushed up the number of observations.
“We have, out of abundance caution, carried out checks across our fleet. Hence, numbers are higher,” news agency PTI quoted the spokesperson as saying.
A senior Air India executive said the findings largely relate to lower-priority equipment. Aircraft systems are classified into categories A to D based on urgency, with most Air India issues falling under category D.
“In case of Air India, most of the issues are with category D, which includes items like seats, tray tables, screens (on the back of seats) and so on. These are not related to the safety of the aircraft,” the executive said.
Alongside airline audits, aviation regulator DGCA ramped up surveillance activity last year. Mohol said the regulator carried out 3,890 surveillance inspections, 56 regulatory audits, 84 surveillance of foreign aircraft (SOFA) checks and 492 ramp inspections as part of planned monitoring.
