Air India is the only Indian carrier that has non-stop flights to the United States. Air India operates the following flights between India and the US: Delhi – New York JFK/ Newark / Chicago / Washington DC and San Francisco, Mumbai – San Francisco / New York JFK / Newark and Bengaluru – San Francisco. American Airlines operates New York JFK – Delhi non-stop from the US side, and United operates Newark – Delhi. These are all the flights operating on the US – India route.
India – US non-stop flights (Red is Air India, Green is United, Blue is AA) [Map courtesy GCMap]
Air India currently runs its operations into the US with a mix of Boeing 777-200LR aircraft it took over from Delta, Boeing 777-200LR aircraft in their fleet, Boeing 777-300ER aircraft of their own, Boeing 777-300ER aircraft it took over from Etihad and the Boeing 787-8 aircraft as well. The airline has, as of November 1, 2024, inducted the Airbus A350-900 on the Delhi – New York JFK operations and will swap the 787-8 operating Delhi – Washington with the Boeing 777. Air India also intends to launch two new flights to the US with their 777 fleet in the Northern Winter Schedule 2024-25.
However, Air India’s intentions are not going exactly as planned, and the airline will cancel over a 100 flights over the next two months due to this change of plans.
Air India will cancel 100+ US-bound flights due to aircraft not being available.
Air India currently has 27 Boeing 777 aircraft in its fleet, out of which four are currently out of service:
- VT-ALL has been parked at Nagpur since 2020 and has yet to be returned to service.
- VT-ALK was sent to Nagpur in May 2024 and has been parked there since then.
- VT-ALQ was ferried to Istanbul on October 9, 2024, for heavy maintenance.
- VT-ALO was ferried to Istanbul on October 25, 2024, for heavy maintenance.
There seems to be an inordinate delay to bring back some aircraft from maintenance. Due to this, Air India will cancel over 100 flights over two months. The affected flights include the following:
- AI126 on Delhi – Chicago Route: November 13, 15, 22, 27, 29 (2024) and December 4, 6 (2024).
- AI127 on Chicago – Delhi Route: November 13, 15, 22, 27, 29 (2024) and December 4, 6 (2024).
- AI105 on Delhi – Newark Route: November 12, 15, 19, 25, 29 (2024) and December 2, 6, 13 (2024)
- AI106 on Newark – Delhi Route: November 12, 15, 19, 25, 29 (2024) and December 2, 6, 13 (2024)
- AI173 on Delhi – San Francisco Route: November 6, 8, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 26 (2024) and December 2, 6, 9 (2024)
- AI174 on San Francisco – Delhi Route: November 6, 8, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 26 (2024) and December 2, 6, 9 (2024)
- AI103 on Delhi – Washington DC Route: November 10, 11, 15, 16, 19, 23, 25, 30 (2024) and December 2, 7, 9, 13, 14, 16, 21, 23, 28, 29, 30 (2024).
- AI104 on Washington DC – Delhi Route: November 10, 11, 15, 16, 19, 23, 25, 30 (2024) and December 2, 7, 9, 13, 14, 16, 21, 23, 28, 29, 30 (2024).
- AI119 on Mumbai – New York JFK Route: November 19, 2024 and December 9, 2024.
- AI116 on New York JFK – Mumbai Route: November 12, 2024 and December 2, 2024.
At LFAL, we could determine these flights as the flights that are not operating (as of 1200 IST on November 3, 2024). This schedule could also change, so please check with Air India if your flight is cancelled. All of these flights are operated by Air India using their Boeing 777 aircraft.
According to Air India, the customers affected have already been informed, and they have been offered the option to be moved to another Air India service, change their travel dates or accept a complete refund from Air India for their travels in case they choose not to travel.
We contacted Air India for a comment on the cancellations and retrofit plans. However, LiveFromALounge.com only got this statement from them.
Due to the delayed return of some aircraft from heavy maintenance and supply chain constraints resulting in a temporary reduction in operating fleet, Air India regrets that a small number of flights have been cancelled between now and end-December. Affected customers have been informed and offered flights on other Air India group services operating on the same or adjacent days, a free change to any other date or a full refund. Air India sincerely regrets the inconvenience caused by this constraint beyond our control.
Air India, at the moment, states that the retrofit exercise will commence in 2025 for their heavy aircraft (the 777s and the 787 aircraft), but given the time it is taking for these aircraft in Istanbul, who is to say that these aircraft might not be secretly undergoing a retrofit exercise.
I know it sounds implausible, but airlines prefer to reveal their revamped product after it is delivered to the airline anyway. So, this is just a theory for now, and if a new cabin shows up on the aircraft in January 2025, then we know it is true.
Bottomline
Air India is cancelling over 100 flights in the India – USA sectors in November – December 2024 owing to a shortage of available aircraft. The flight cancellations affect all sorts of US routes from Delhi, and some dates from Mumbai. A couple of Air India 777s are currently in Istanbul for maintenance, and these could be the cause of the cancellations for the airline as of now.
What do you make of the cancellations at Air India during the peak travel period?
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It appears that other sectors are also affected. AI 311 (MEL-BOM) hasn’t flown since 30th November. Flightradar shows next scheduled is for 13th November. We’d made plans to travel in December, but have now cancelled and re-booked on another airline at great additional cost to us.
I’m on a return flight on November 24 from Delhi to IAD, which is on this list. The app still shows confirmed and I contacted customer service a couple of days ago when this was first announced. It was mentioned that return flight is still operational.
May I know the source of this list? Is it assumed based off of the plane model. So maybe not all flights are not effected at once with Boeing 777
@Preet, the Air India Schedule for Delhi to IAD shows that 24 November is operational. This is picked from Air India’s website.
Where is the list coming from? Air India is still selling tickets for some of the flights on the list. For example, flight status for AI 173 on Nov 6 is scheduled on air india website.
Most other news articles mentioned cancellation of around 60 flights.
@Hitesh, no list will come out.
Your article is saying AI 174 on Nov 6 is cancelled. Air India website is saying it’s not. Which one is true? How did you find out AI 174 on Nov 6 is cancelled?
@Hitesh, we looked at the schedule of every flight to the US over the next two months and compared them with the announced schedule or usual operating schedule. For example, some flights might operate 5 times a week only.
Had a recent flight on an old 777-200LR that was in Istanbul for 3 weeks. It wasn’t just maintenance, but also the installation of the new in-flight captive wifi/IFE system.
@CR, the inflight captive system can be installed overnight and does not need to go to Istanbul for that.
“Supply chain issues” is normally code for “seat suppliers don’t have enough seats for us yet”.
Where in the statement from Air-India does it say they will move people to another carrier as you e posted ?
@Steven E, fixed to reflect the fact that it is Air India and not another airline.
Air India will never admit this 🙂