50% inspected aircraft showed repeated technical issues, says govt

The government on Thursday told the Lok Sabha that nearly half of the aircraft checked for technical problems across Indian airlines were found to have recurring defects. Aircraft operated by Air India and IndiGo formed the biggest share of these cases.

 

According to the government, 754 aircraft from six scheduled airlines were examined for repeated technical snags from January last year till February 3 this year. Out of these, 377 aircraft were identified as having defects that occurred more than once.

IndiGo and Air India top the list

Data shared by Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol showed that 405 IndiGo aircraft were checked during this period. Of these, 148 planes were found to have recurring technical issues.

 

In the case of Air India, 166 aircraft were analysed, and 137 were flagged for repetitive defects. Air India Express also reported a high number, with 54 aircraft showing repeated defects out of 101 planes checked.

 

Notably, IndiGo and Air India are the largest players in India, together controlling about 85 per cent of the aviation market.

 

The data also showed that SpiceJet had 16 aircraft with recurring defects out of 43 planes analysed. Akasa Air reported repeated defects in 14 aircraft out of the 32 planes examined.

DGCA steps up inspections and audits

The minister noted that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) carried out extensive safety monitoring last year. This included 3,890 surveillance inspections, 56 regulatory audits, 84 checks of foreign aircraft and 492 ramp inspections as part of its planned activities.

 

Apart from this, DGCA also conducted 874 spot checks and 550 night inspections as part of unplanned surveillance during the year.

Technical staff strength increased

Responding to another question, the minister said that DGCA had 637 sanctioned technical posts in 2022. To address future manpower needs, the structure was revised, and the number of sanctioned technical posts has now been increased to 1,063.

 

Flight fault reports declining over last three years

 

The minister also informed the House that the number of technical faults reported on flights has steadily declined over the past three years. In 2023, airlines reported 448 such cases, which came down to 421 in 2024 and further reduced to 353 in 2025.