The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) approved Air India to use Electronic Technical Logbooks (ETL) as the primary technical document for its Boeing 787 fleet and authorised parallel implementation across the Boeing 777 fleet. This has made Air India one of the first airlines to adopt fleet-wide ETLs.
Digital Shift from Paper Records
The ETL is said to replace traditional paper-based maintenance records with a secure digital platform, enabling faster, more accurate and more efficient management of aircraft maintenance and engineering activities. The digital system provides real-time information sharing between maintenance engineers and operational teams, improving coordination, accelerating defect reporting and rectification and enhancing aircraft dispatch reliability.
This move is said to leverage technology to strengthen Air India’s operational performance, safety, reliability and sustainability while positioning it as a technology-enabled, modern global airline. The ETL platform also delivers enhanced data integrity, traceability and regulatory compliance while providing advanced analytics that support predictive maintenance and informed engineering decision-making. In addition, the paperless system significantly reduces paper consumption, supporting Air India’s sustainability objectives.
Executive Statement on Collaboration
Air India's senior vice president for engineering and maintenance, Jeremy Yew Jin Kit, said, “The implementation of ETLs across our widebody Boeing fleet reaffirms the collaborative work involving engineering, flight operations, digital technology teams, OEM partners and the regulator. Replacing paper-based processes with real-time digital information, we are improving operational efficiency, strengthening maintenance governance, enhancing regulatory compliance and enabling faster decision-making across our engineering and operations teams.”
The move follows Air India’s continued investment in digital technologies to modernise engineering and maintenance operations. It is considered a key step in the airline’s broader vision to build a data-driven aviation business that excels in operational performance and customer service.
