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NEW DELHI: Nonstop India-US connectivity has taken a further hit ahead of the upcoming peak summer travel season. Air India will temporarily suspend six of its 47 weekly nonstops to America for the next two to three months due to crew shortage, said AI CEO Campbell Wilson on Monday.
“We will be reducing frequency of the San Francisco and Newark nonstops by three each. In the next 2-3 months, the 100 pilots and 1,400 cabin crew in training will begin flying. The temporary crew shortage being witnessed on our Boeing 777 fleet will be resolved then,” Wilson said. Additionally, AI will be deploying narrow bodies on some Bangkok and Dubai flights instead of twin aisles for the same reason.
AI is the largest operator of nonstops to America. United and American have only one flight each on New York-Delhi route. Delta hasn’t resumed India flights after March 2020. United has suspended its Mumbai-Newark and Delhi -San Francisco and Chicago flights. US carriers’ plans to have nonstops between Bengaluru and San Francisco and Seattle have been indefinitely deferred.
With AI also reducing flights, India-US direct connectivity has taken a further hit just ahead of peak travel season, something that could push fares – already at unprecedented levels – even higher.
“We are reducing frequency on routes where we can accommodate passengers on other flights. AI was an airline that was shrinking (pre-privatisation) and is now growing fast again. A large number of aircraft that had been on ground for a long time are flying again. This has led to a temporary crew shortage, essentially cabin crew and some pilots, with the B777 being most affected at the moment. This issue will be resolved soon. We are hiring 500 cabin crew every month. Almost 1,700 captains will come online, with less than 10% (140) being expats,” Wilson said.
AI 17 weekly nonstops to San Francisco; 14 to New York JFK; seven to Chicago; six to Newark and three to Washington.
In the past few weeks several AI nonstops have been delayed by several hours. For instance last week saw a Chicago flight delayed by over a day and New York by over 10 hours.
“We will be reducing frequency of the San Francisco and Newark nonstops by three each. In the next 2-3 months, the 100 pilots and 1,400 cabin crew in training will begin flying. The temporary crew shortage being witnessed on our Boeing 777 fleet will be resolved then,” Wilson said. Additionally, AI will be deploying narrow bodies on some Bangkok and Dubai flights instead of twin aisles for the same reason.
AI is the largest operator of nonstops to America. United and American have only one flight each on New York-Delhi route. Delta hasn’t resumed India flights after March 2020. United has suspended its Mumbai-Newark and Delhi -San Francisco and Chicago flights. US carriers’ plans to have nonstops between Bengaluru and San Francisco and Seattle have been indefinitely deferred.
With AI also reducing flights, India-US direct connectivity has taken a further hit just ahead of peak travel season, something that could push fares – already at unprecedented levels – even higher.
“We are reducing frequency on routes where we can accommodate passengers on other flights. AI was an airline that was shrinking (pre-privatisation) and is now growing fast again. A large number of aircraft that had been on ground for a long time are flying again. This has led to a temporary crew shortage, essentially cabin crew and some pilots, with the B777 being most affected at the moment. This issue will be resolved soon. We are hiring 500 cabin crew every month. Almost 1,700 captains will come online, with less than 10% (140) being expats,” Wilson said.
AI 17 weekly nonstops to San Francisco; 14 to New York JFK; seven to Chicago; six to Newark and three to Washington.
In the past few weeks several AI nonstops have been delayed by several hours. For instance last week saw a Chicago flight delayed by over a day and New York by over 10 hours.
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