Aviation Audit: Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol presented figures from recent aviation audit. It was disclosed that more than 7 out of 10 aircraft in the fleet of Air India experienced recurring technical defects.
Aviation Audit Data
The data revealed that 191 out of 267 Air India aircrafts were found to be struggling with repeated faults during checks conducted since January last year. The data revealed that 54 out of 101 Air India Express aircrafts and 137 out of 166 Air India planes were identified as those with repeated issues.
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Since January last year, 754 aircraft from six scheduled airlines (IndiGo, SpiceJet, Akasa Air, Alliance Air, Air India and Air India Express) were analyzed and 377 were flagged for repeated defects.
As of February 3, 148 out of 405 analyzed IndiGo aircraft were identified as having repetitive defects. The data also revealed that 16 out of 43 SpiceJet aircrafts that were analyzed were identified for repeated defects. In contrast, 14 out of 32 Akasa Air’s aircraft were flagged out.
DGCA’s Stance On Safety Oversight
The government also shared details on the oversight actions of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Last year, DGCA conducted 3,890 surveillance inspections. Out of them, DGCA conducted 492 ramp inspections, 56 regulatory audits and 84 foreign aircraft (SOFA) examinations. The DGCA also performed 874 spot checks and 550 night surveillance scrutinises as part of an unplanned oversight.
The Union Government also disclosed that the count of sanctioned technical posts in DGCA has been raised to 1,063 now from 637 in 2022.
Now comes the big question – how safe is flying in India? This year, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar was among many who were killed after their Learjet 45 crashed in Baramati. On 12 June 2025, 242 people were killed after the Air India Boeing 787 carrying them crashed shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad, Gujarat.