377 aircraft identified for repetitive defects since January last year, says govt

Mumbai: A total of 377 aircraft have been identified as having recurring defects since January last year until February 3 across various scheduled airlines, the government told Lok Sabha on Thursday.

Of these, 405 aircraft belonging to IndiGo were analysed for repetitive defects and 148 were identified for repetitive defects, as on February 3, this year, as per data presented by Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol in Lok Sabha.

Similarly, of the 166 Air India aircraft analysed, 137 were identified as having repetitive defects, while 54 Air India Express aircraft were identified for repetitive defects, out of the 101 aircraft analysed, according to the data.

Also, of the 43 aircraft of SpiceJet were analysed for repetitive defects, 16 planes were identified for repetitive defects, and a total of 14 Akasa Air aircraft were identified for repetitive defects of the 32 aircraft analysed, as per data.

At the same time, aviation safety regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) also conducted 3,890 surveillance inspections, 56 regulatory audits, 84 surveillance of foreign aircraft (SOFA) and 492 ramp checks as part of its planned surveillance activities in last year besides carrying out 874 spot checks and 550 night surveillance as part of the unplanned surveillance activities during the previous year, Mohol said.

In response to another question, the Minister said that in 2022, DGCA had 637 sanctioned technical posts and added that in order to address shortage of manpower in future, the restructuring has been done and number of sanctioned technical posts has been increased to 1063.