79% Air India flyers report aircraft quality, maintenance issues in past year: Survey

Hyderabad: According to a LocalCircles survey—conducted in light of the recent Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad—79 per cent of the airline's passengers said they experienced quality and aircraft maintenance issues in the last 12 months. This marked a jump from the 55 per cent who experienced such issues in 2024.

The survey also noted a rise in complaints against Air India in areas like customer service, baggage and availability of flight entertainment systems.

Two recent lapses at AI

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 rules framed in April 2019, the survey stated.

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 put in place.

Cancellations and postponements

The DGCA orders came at the end of a week which saw scores of flights being cancelled or rescheduled. In one instance, an 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.

Flights forced to return due to clogged toilets

During the last year, several Air India flights, particularly long-haul flights, have been reported to have been forced to divert or return due to maintenance and cleaning issues, like the toilets becoming clogged and inoperable.

The operationality of all airlines, including Air India, became a concern for many flyers post the tragic Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad on June 12. Many passengers are reported to have shelved their travel plans even as the airline has cancelled several flights on the slightest suspicion of technical issues.

Another recent LocalCirles survey reported how flyers are now even checking the aircraft model before booking in light of the unfortunate crash.

60% of flyers complained about food quality and customer service

Seeking fliers’ views on experience with Air India, the survey 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 per cent indicated that the ‘quality and maintenance of aircraft’ is a major issue; 46 per cent indicated issues of ‘timeliness’; 48 per cent indicated poor ‘baggage handling’; 36 per cent indicated issues with the ‘entertainment systems’ onboard; 36 per cent indicated ‘information timeliness and transparency’; 31 per cent indicated ‘staff attitude and courteousness’; 31 per cent indicated ‘customer service’; 31% indicated ‘food quality’; and 36% indicated ‘other issues’.

Points on timeliness and staff attitude up, down on service and baggage handling

On some fronts, Air India has shown some improvement according to fliers surveyed.

This includes timeliness, with 48 per cent indicating it as a problem, down from 69 per cent in 2024. Similarly, as against 38 per cent finding fault with staff attitude in 2024, this year, 31 per cent have complaints.

There is marginal improvement on the issue of information timeliness and transparency, as 36 per cent have indicated it as an issue, down from 38 per cent 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 the quality and maintenance of aircraft rose from 55% in 2024 to 79% in 2025.

The survey showed that the quality and maintenance of Air India aircraft is the top issue among the majority of the fliers. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is probing to understand the root causes of the AI 171 crash and the security, safety and aircraft maintenance aspects of Air India.

Extent of survey

The LocalCicles survey received over 15,000 responses from Air India passengers located in over 307 districts of the country; 63 per cent of respondents were men, while 37 per cent of respondents were women. As much as 44 per cent of respondents were from tier 1, 26 per cent from tier 2, and 30 per cent of respondents were from tier 3, 4, 5 and rural districts.