Air India to suspend Delhi-Washington flights amid fleet shortfall, other factors

Tata Group-owned Air India on Monday said it is suspending its services between Delhi and Washington, D.C., effective from September 1, 2025, due to a combination of operational factors. 

The airline, which has been facing a myriad of issues since the fatal Boeing 787 crash in Ahmedabad on June 12, said the move is to "ensure the reliability and integrity of Air India’s overall route network".

In a statement, the airline said the suspension is primarily driven by the planned shortfall in Air India’s fleet, as the airline commenced retrofitting 26 of its Boeing 787-8 aircraft last month.

"This extensive retrofit programme, aimed at significantly enhancing customer experience, necessitates a prolonged unavailability of multiple aircraft at any given time until at least the end of 2026. That, coupled with the continued closure of airspace over Pakistan, impacts the airline’s long-haul operations, leading to longer flight routings and increased operational complexity," the airline said.

Customers with Air India bookings to or from Washington, D.C. beyond September 1, 2025, will be contacted and offered alternative travel arrangements, including rebooking on other flights or full refunds, as per their individual preferences.

Meanwhile, Air India customers will continue to have the options of one-stop flights to Washington, D.C. via New York (JFK), Newark (EWR), Chicago, and San Francisco – with the airline’s interline partners, Alaska Airlines, United Airlines, and Delta Air Lines, "allowing customers to travel on a single itinerary with their baggage checked through to the final destination".

Air India said it will continue to operate non-stop flights between India and six destinations in North America, including Toronto and Vancouver in Canada.

Earlier in the day, a technical snag in an Air India flight arriving from Delhi led to a tense hour-long delay at Raipur airport, leaving around 160 passengers, including a sitting MLA, stranded inside the aircraft with no immediate explanation.

On Sunday, an Air India flight travelling from Thiruvananthapuram towards Delhi, carrying several senior political leaders, was forced to make an emergency landing at Chennai airport, following a suspected radar malfunction.

The DGCA was expected to investigate both the technical malfunction and the sequence of events that led to the aborted landing.

Picture Courtesy: IANS