The frequent precautionary landings of Air India Express flights have raised concerns about the airworthiness of the aircraft pressed in by the airline for operations.
Over half-a-dozen precautionary landings have been made by the airline in emergency conditions in the first half of this year alone. The landings assume significance considering that the airline is the largest player on West Asian routes from Kerala.
Though the airport operator announced full emergency conditions on each occasion, the airline clarified that each landing was a precautionary one to avoid untoward incidents. During an emergency landing, the pilot who encounters a distress condition declares ‘Mayday’ three times. These are precautionary landings to avoid an uncomfortable situation, sources say.
The airline, which began operations in 2005, has a fleet of 26 aircraft (Boeing 737-800NG) with a seating capacity of 189 passengers per flight. As many as 18 aircraft were inducted into the fleet in the first phase and another nine in the second phase since 2014, when K. Shyam Sundar was Chief Executive Officer of the airline.
The sources say the average age of its fleet is 10.3 years, which is a healthy one for an aircraft. The airline has been operating around 750 departures per week from cities across the country, around 70% of them from Kerala. Further, since it was a public sector company until recently, the crew is required to put every minor incident on record, especially after the two accidents — at Mangaluru airport in 2010 and Calicut airport in 2020, they say.
In fact, aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has not prescribed any time limit for phasing out aircraft and airlines are operating aircraft till they are airworthy and safe for operation in India. According to the guidelines, to operate an aircraft beyond its designed life, aircraft is generally subjected to “embodiment of modifications to enhance its structural strength” and the frequency of inspections is also increased.
