79% Air India passengers surveyed confirmed experiencing quality and aircraft maintenance issues in the last 12 months, marking a jump from 55% who experienced such issues in 2024

June 23, 2025, New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has taken Air India to task for two serious operational lapses. In a show cause notice, post a spot check, DGCA observed that Air India had operated two flights on May 15 and 17 from Bangalore to London, “both of which exceeded the stipulated flight time limit of 10 hours” as per rule framed in April 2019.

In the second case, Air India has been directed to remove officials responsible for “repeated and serious violations”, voluntarily disclosed by the airline, which has resulted in “flight crew being scheduled and operated despite lapses in licensing, rest and recency requirements”. Taking strong objections to the “systemic failures in crew scheduling, compliance monitoring and internal accountability”, the regulator has ordered that the erring Air India officials should be shifted to “non-operational” roles till corrective reforms are not put in place.

The DGCA orders came at the end of a week which saw scores of flights being cancelled or rescheduled. In one instance, Air India Boeing 788 flight headed to Delhi had to return to Hong Kong because of a technical issue. On the same day, an Air India Express flight bound for Ranchi returned to Delhi airport owing to a suspected technical issue. Three days later, An Air India flight from Delhi to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam returned mid-air due to a precautionary technical concern, the airline said.

During last one year, several Air India flights, particularly long-haul flights, are reported to have been forced to divert or return due to maintenance and cleaning issues like the toilets becoming clogged and inoperable. While Air India is not an exception, it seems to be more in news then other airlines operating in India or overseas about the condition of the planes or the airlines services. It has become a matter of concern post the tragic Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad June 12th such that many passengers are reported to have shelved their travel plans even as the airline has cancelled several flight on the least suspicion of technical issues.

In a social media post, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had earlier this year written about how on an Air India flight from Bhopal to Delhi he had to travel in a broken seat. Though he was given the option of changing his seat with another passenger he opted not to do so as many other passengers were travelling on broken seats. After his experience, Chouhan expressed disillusionment that under Tata administration Air India services things should have improved.

In the case of Air India, neglect of maintenance appears to be a case of apathy rather than financial crunch. Repeated warnings and fines by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) over last couple of years on various counts including lack of proper maintenance and safety procedures has had little or no impact.

With so many fliers expressing concerns about Air India as well as the Boeing 787-8, LocalCircles via a new survey attempted to find out what are the areas of passenger concern. The survey received over 15,000 responses from Air India passengers located in over 307 districts of the country. 63% respondents were men while 37% respondents were women. 44% respondents were from tier 1, 26% from tier 2 and 30% respondents were from tier 3, 4, 5 & rural districts.

Quality and maintenance of aircraft is the single biggest issue fliers had with Air India in the last 12 months; 79% who flew confirmed experiencing issues

Seeking fliers’ views on experience with Air India, the survey first asked, “What are some of the issues you have experienced when flying Air India in the last 12 months?” Some among the 15,925 indicated more than one option. The largest group of 79% indicated that the “quality and maintenance of aircraft” is a major issue; 46% indicated issues of “timeliness”; 48% indicated poor “baggage handling”; 36% indicated issues with the “entertainment systems” onboard; 36% indicated “information timeliness and transparency”; 31% indicated “staff attitude and courteousness”; 31% indicated "customer service”; 31% indicated "food quality”; and 36% indicated "other issues”. To sum up, quality and maintenance of aircraft is the single biggest issue fliers had with Air India in the last 12 months; 79% who flew Air India confirmed experiencing such issues.

Percentage of Air India fliers surveyed who had an issue with quality and maintenance of aircraft rose from 55% in 2024 to 79% in 2025

On some fronts Air India has shown some improvement according to fliers surveyed. This includes timeliness with 48% indicating it as a problem down from 69% in 2024. Similarly, as against 38% finding fault with staff attitude in 2024, this year 31% have complaints. There is marginal improvement on the issue of information timeliness and transparency as 36% have indicated it as an issue down from 38% in 2024. However, consumer complaints have risen in areas like customer service (24% to 31%), baggage handling (38% to 48%), and entertainment system (24% to 36%) in the last 12 months. Most importantly, the percentage of Air India flyers surveyed who had an issue with quality and maintenance of aircraft rose from 55% in 2024 to 79% in 2025.

In summary, going by the fliers’ report card of Air India, the survey shows that quality & maintenance of aircraft is the top issue majority of the fliers have with the airline. With aircraft flying on high number of MELs is a concern that Air India staff has expressed to multiple sections of the media. This has direct bearing on safety of passengers. Consumer complaints against Air India have also risen in areas like customer service, baggage, aircraft quality, maintenance and entertainment systems in the last 12 months.

While the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is probing to understand the root causes of AI 171 crash and along with that security, safety and aircraft maintenance aspects of Air India, it is not likely to probe all other issues of concern to the fliers. It is hoped that the government would set up a high-level panel with representatives from DGCA and Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) for better redressal of fliers’ grievances.

Survey Demographics

The survey received over 15,000 responses from Air India passengers located in over 307 districts of the country. 63% respondents were men while 37% respondents were women. 44% respondents were from tier 1, 26% from tier 2 and 30% respondents were from tier 3, 4, 5 & rural districts. The survey was conducted via LocalCircles platform, and all participants were validated citizens who had to be registered with LocalCircles to participate in this survey.