Parliamentary panel meet | DGCA assures to curb airfare surge; MPs flag aviation safety amid AI crash

Air India's Managing Director and CEO MD Campbell Wilson informed the MPs that the complete retrofitting of the fleet would be complete in the first half of 2027.

New Delhi: Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Tuesday asked the Ministry of Civil Aviation to devise a comprehensive safety mechanism in the wake of the June 12 Ahmedabad air crash involving Air India’s Boeing 787-8 ‘Dreamliner’ and provide details of the investigation into the incident that killed all 242 but one on board.

The multi-party panel headed by senior Congress MP KC Venugopal also took to task Air India for the 'poor service' after its take over by the Tatas even as a the airline’s Managing Director and CEO MD Campbell Wilson informed the MPs that the complete retrofitting of the fleet would be complete in the first half of 2027.

The issue came up during the meeting on ‘Levy and Regulation of Fees, Tariffs, User Charges etc on Public Infrastructure and Other Public Utilities’.

Sources said the panel has asked the Ministry to provide information about the stage of investigation into the June 12 air crash, time frame for completion, members of the investigating team and India’s capability of retrieving data from black boxes amid initial reports about sending black boxes to the United States.

The panel wanted the Ministry and other aviation organisations to draft a comprehensive safety system to ensure that there is no repeat of incidents like the Ahmedabad incident. It asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to conduct regular safety audits and the regulator responded that it has already started examining planes other than Dreamliners too.

Sources said Venugopal raised the issue of rising incidents of bird hits and asked officials to take steps to ensure that such incidents do not recur, as it impacts safety of aircraft operations. There was no detailed discussion on the Ahmedabad crash, as the probe was still underway.

MPs raised several concerns about Air India and asked why the services have deteriorated especially after the take over by the Tatas. They referred to recurring complaints from fliers, including about broken or uncomfortable seats, sources said adding the airline officials told the panel that most of the aircraft are old and they need a bit more time to ensure that everything is in order.

Sources said Campbell told the panel that all aircraft will be refurbished by the first half of 2027.

Another issue raised by the MPs were about User Development Fees (UDF) charged by airports, with some raising the issue of private airports increasing it regularly. A senior MP claimed in the meeting that there has been an exorbitant rise in UDF in Ahmedabad and Jaipur after Adani Group took over operations, sources said.

The panel asked the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (AERA) to come up with a regulation against indiscriminate increase in UDF.

On airfare hike, sources said the MPs wanted the DGCA to take a pro-active stand and formulate a fresh mechanism to regulate ticket prices. While acknowledging that the DGCA has taken “some measures”, they said it was not enough and referred to airfare hike post Pahalgam, Maha Kumbh and during festival season.

When an official said the DGCA would consult airlines on developing a mechanism, a BJP MP asked whether the unfair practice will continue for want of consensus. The DGCA assured that it would bring in a new mechanism.

Sources also said the MPs expressed their displeasure at DGCA officials for providing old information on issues raised by them.

Officials from the Ministry, DGCA, AERA, Airports Authority of India (AAI), AAI Cargo Logistics and Allied Services Company Ltd (AAICLAS) and the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), airlines, including Air India, Spice Jet and Indigo, and airport operators like Adani Airport Holding Limited attended the meeting.