A significant portion of India’s commercial aircraft fleet has shown recurring technical issues, according to data presented in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. Government records show that regulators flagged nearly one in every two aircraft inspected across major Indian airlines for recurring technical defects, with the Air India Group and IndiGo accounting for the largest share.
The findings, disclosed by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, offer a detailed snapshot of the aviation sector’s ongoing maintenance challenges amid rising passenger traffic and fleet expansion.
754 Aircraft Audited, 377 Flagged for Recurrent Issues
Since January last year, authorities reviewed 754 aircraft operated by six scheduled airlines to assess repetitive technical snags. Out of this total, 377 aircraft were found to have defects that occurred more than once.
Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol shared the figures in a written response to Parliament, underscoring the scale of monitoring carried out by aviation regulators over the past year.
IndiGo Has Most Aircraft Reviewed, Air India Shows Higher Defect Ratio
IndiGo, India’s largest airline by fleet size, recorded the highest number of aircraft inspections. As of February 3, regulators examined 405 IndiGo aircraft and identified recurring technical issues in 148 of them.
The Air India Group, however, showed a significantly higher share of repetitive defects. Regulators flagged 191 of the 267 aircraft audited across Air India and Air India Express, nearly 72% of the fleet reviewed.
Breaking down the data further, regulators found recurring defects in 137 of Air India’s 166 aircraft and in 54 of the 101 aircraft operated by Air India Express.
SpiceJet and Akasa Air Also Feature in the Audit
Other carriers were also part of the government’s review. Among 43 SpiceJet aircraft examined, 16 showed repetitive defects. Akasa Air reported 14 aircraft with recurring issues out of 32 reviewed.
Although the numbers are smaller than those of larger carriers, regulators still include them in the broader safety and compliance picture.
Air India Responds: ‘Checks Were Conducted Out of Abundance of Caution’
Responding to the data, an Air India spokesperson said the airline had undertaken extensive inspections across its fleet as a precautionary measure, which contributed to the higher number of observations.
“We have, out of abundance of caution, carried out checks across our fleet. Hence, numbers are higher,” the spokesperson said, as quoted by PTI.
Most Issues Linked to Low-Priority Cabin Equipment, Airline Says
A senior Air India executive clarified that the majority of the findings were related to lower-priority equipment rather than flight-critical systems.
Aircraft defects are classified into categories A through D based on urgency. According to the executive, most of Air India’s reported issues fell under category D, which includes non-essential cabin items.
“In the 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 similar equipment. These are not related to the safety of the aircraft,” the executive said.
DGCA Intensifies Surveillance and Inspections
Alongside airline audits, India’s aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), significantly increased its surveillance activities last year.
According to Mohol, the DGCA conducted 3,890 surveillance inspections, 56 regulatory audits, 84 Surveillance of Foreign Aircraft (SOFA) checks, and 492 ramp inspections under its planned monitoring programme.
In addition, unplanned oversight included 874 spot checks and 550 night inspections, reflecting heightened regulatory scrutiny across the sector.
Technical Manpower Expanded to Strengthen Oversight
To support these efforts, the government has moved to strengthen DGCA’s technical workforce. The minister said the regulator had 637 sanctioned technical posts in 2022.
Following internal restructuring, the airline increased the number of approved technical positions to 1,063 to address staffing gaps and strengthen safety oversight.
