Parliament Budget Session | Airlines faced 546 technical snags during aircraft operations in 2022: Centre

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The government on Thursday said domestic airlines faced a total of 546 technical snags during operation of planes last year.

Out of them, the country’s largest airline IndiGo faced 215 snags while SpiceJet saw 143 snags and Vistara had 97 snags.

Air India faced 64 snags while those reported by Go First and Akasa Air stood at 7 and 6, respectively, according to data provided by the Civil Aviation Ministry in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

In 2022, Air Asia (India) witnessed 8 snags, Alliance Air reported 3 snags, Fly Big (1), TrueJet (1) and BlueDart Aviation (1).

A total of 1,090 snags were faced by airlines in the last two years.

Last year, the number of snags was slightly higher at 546 compared to 544 in 2021.

To a query on whether more technical snags are reported in the country due to low cost airlines, Minister of State for Civil Aviation V.K. Singh replied in the negative.

“No Sir, Technical snags are experienced during operation of aircraft. These may be due to improper functioning/ malfunctions of systems/ equipment/ components fitted on the aircraft,” he said.

The Minister also noted that some of the technical snags may require the flight crew to take actions such as air turn back, aborted take-off, or go around keeping safety of operation in view and are usually taken to avert serious incidents/ accidents.

“Operators take action to rectify the technical snags based on the guidance provided by the manufacturer before further operating the aircraft,” he added.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) ensures that the airline and the maintenance organisation continue to comply with the regulatory requirements against which they have been initially approved through a system of surveillance, audits, spot checks and night surveillance.

“In case of the non-compliances, DGCA ensures that rectification is done by the airlines/ maintenance organisation. DGCA initiates enforcement action against organisation/personnel in case violations are found which may include warning, suspension, and cancellation besides imposition of financial penalty,” Mr. Singh said.