Amid staff shortage, peak demand, Air India to cancel long-haul flights

As of now, six weekly flights to the US, three to Newark and three to San Francisco, will be trimmed due to a crew shortage for the coming 2-3 months, said CEO & MD of Air India, Campbell Wilson

Passengers taking Air India flights may have to face cancellations during the peak summer travel season, reported Hindustan Times. Air India officials told HT on March 20 that the shortage of crew members is the primary reason behind expected cancellations.

Chief executive officer and managing director of Air India, Campbell Wilson, was quoted as saying in the report, "As of now, six weekly flights to the US, three to Newark and three to San Francisco, will be trimmed due to a crew shortage for the coming 2-3 months."

Elaborating on the situation, the report said that Air India flights from Delhi to San Francisco will not be available for over three months. Air India's flight to Newark will be cancelled for over a month, and the flight from Mumbai to New York will not operate throughout May.

Requesting anonymity, an official said, "Air India’s flight AI 105/106 will be cancelled from March 26 to April 29, its flight AI 119/ 116 from Mumbai to New York will be cancelled for the entire May and its flight AI 173/ 174 from Delhi to San Francisco will be cancelled from March 26 to June 29."

Notably, Air India operates 47 weekly flights to the US. Of these, seven fly to Chicago, 14 to New York, six to Newark, 17 to San Francisco, and three to Dulles.

In addition to this, a crew shortage has compelled the airline to operate narrow-body aircraft to Dubai and Bangkok instead of its B787. These flights include AI 330, AI 332, AI 331 and AI 333, the report added.

Air India, which was acquired by the Tata Group in 2022, has been compelled to reduce its long-haul flights at a time when it offered its employees a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS). The scheme provided for a three-month notice period and ended in June last year, which implies that all cabin crew who had availed of the scheme would have been released by September 2022. The airline announced on March 17, 2023 the second phase of the VRS but excluded cabin crew and security staff due to a shortage of manpower, HT reported.