Air India Group reported most technical defects in year under review: Govt
Air India Group emerged as the airline group with the highest number of technical defects reported during the year, as per data tabled in Parliament. The disclosure, inclusive of Air India Express, comes in a year marked by a fatal Air India crash and renewed scrutiny in the aviation sector.
Air India Group together reported the highest technical defects during the year, to the tune of 139 defects, shared Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol with the Parliament on Thursday.
Air India Express, the low-cost carrier in the Air India Group, reported a whopping 95 technical defects, while Air India reported 44 technical defects during the year till November.
The total was a huge improvement from 253 technical defects that Air India alone reported in 2024, without a breakup for Air India Express. It is pertinent to note that the number does not include 44 defects reported by Vistara, which was later acquired by the Air India Group.
InterGlobe Aviation, which operates domestic carrier IndiGo, reported 101 technical defects till November 2025. The number is a sharp rise from 46 defects reported in 2024. IndiGo, which holds 64.5% market share in the domestic air carrier space, is still shy of the 246 defects that the carrier reported in 2023.
Mohol was responding to a question raised by Lok Sabha members Ganapathy Rajkumar, Kalanidhi Veeraswamy, and S. Jagathrakshakan.
Despite several high-profile developments in the aviation sector during the year, the number of technical defects reported by commercial airlines declined from previous years. Across six carriers, the minister said 382 defects were reported till November, compared with 472 in 2024, 519 in 2023, and a five-year high of 528 in 2022.
The data comes at the end of a shocking year for the Indian aviation industry, with the crash of Air India resulting in mass casualties, raising scrutiny on the governance and quality engineering in the sector. Earlier this month, IndiGo grounded at least 2,000 flights due to a shortage of pilots after it failed to plan adequately for new rules limiting how many hours they work.
In a previous session, Mahol had flagged that IndiGo employs about 5,085 pilots, nearly one-third of the pilots working with major domestic airlines. The data also flagged an imbalance in the sector. Despite operating a smaller fleet of 198 aircraft as of April 14, 2025, Air India employs a larger pool of 6,350 pilots, representing around 45% of pilots working across major airlines.
Edited by Jyoti Narayan