Air India Flights to US and Canada Affected by Crew Shortages: Reports

According to a recent report by the news agency PTI, some Air India flights to the US and Canada have been affected due to crew shortages. The shortage of crew has caused either cancellations or significant delays of certain flights, resulting in disruptions to the airline’s operations.

Acute Shortage of Manpower

The source cited by PTI stated that there is an “acute shortage of manpower” which is impacting the airline’s operations, particularly in the US and Canadian sectors.

Over the past 5-6 days, Air India has cancelled three flights to San Francisco in the US and one flight to Vancouver in Canada. Additionally, some flights on these routes have faced a delay of 10-12 hours.

Previous Crew Shortage Issues

This is not the first time that Air India has faced problems due to crew shortages. The airline, owned by the Tata group, faced similar issues last year. However, ever since the Tata acquisition, Air India has expanded its operations to new routes and increased its fleet size.

Expansion and New Routes

In December of last year, the airline leased six Boeing B777-300 ER widebody aircraft to augment its existing fleet.

A week later, Air India launched its first-ever non-stop service between Mumbai and San Francisco. This was followed by the launch of three times a week flight between Bengaluru and San Francisco.

In January of this year, Air India announced the launch of 12 weekly flights to London Gatwick Airport and 5 additional services to London Heathrow Airport, further expanding its operations.

(With Inputs From PTI)