Mumbai, Feb 06: About 82% of Air India’s analysed fleet was flagged for repetitive technical defects, revealed government data presented in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
The data highlighted that around 50% of aircraft operated by scheduled Indian airlines have been identified with recurring faults over the past year, raising questions about maintenance standards in India’s aviation sector.
The data was shared by Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. According to the data, a total of 377 aircraft were identified for repetitive defects since January 2025 against 754 aircraft analysed from various scheduled airlines. Among these, around 166 aircraft from Air India’s fleet were checked, and 137 of them were identified with repetitive defects.
Air India, IndiGo among most flagged
Similarly, around 101 aircraft from Air India Express’ fleet were analysed and 54 were found to have recurring defects. The highest number of analysed aircraft belonged to IndiGo’s fleet, with 148 out of 405 aircraft identified for repetitive defects. Moreover, 16 SpiceJet aircraft, eight Alliance Air aircraft and 14 Akasa Air aircraft were also flagged for having recurring issues.
Across the country’s entire commercial aviation landscape, approximately 50% of aircraft operated by scheduled Indian airlines have been identified with recurring faults over the past year.
DGCA oversight and inspections
Mohol informed the House that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), in 2025, carried out 3,890 planned surveillance inspections, 56 regulatory audits, 84 surveillance-of-foreign-aircraft checks and 492 ramp checks. Moreover, it conducted 874 spot checks and 550 night surveillance operations under unplanned surveillance activities.
Decline in reported technical faults
The government also highlighted that the number of technical faults reported in flights has decreased from 448 in 2023 to 353 in 2025, suggesting that while repetitive issues remain a maintenance challenge, critical safety failures are on a downward trend.
Crucially, officials noted that many of these recurring issues fall under the lowest priority level in maintenance, which includes non-safety-critical cabin items such as broken seat handles or tray tables, malfunctioning in-flight entertainment (IFE) screens, and cosmetic issues with cabin panels.
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“DGCA has a systematic safety oversight mechanism in place for monitoring the compliance of rules and civil aviation requirements encompassing all aircraft and airport operators. The oversight process includes surveillance, spot checks and regulatory audits. The deficiencies observed during these audits are followed up with airlines for effective and corrective actions,” the minister said.
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