Air India announced on Monday that it will suspend direct flights between Washington, D.C., and Delhi, starting Sept. 1, 2025, due to operational issues associated with a significant fleet upgrade and ongoing airspace restrictions.
The airline clarified that this move is a consequence of a temporary decrease in fleet availability with 26 Boeing 787-8 aircraft undergoing a deep retrofitting program that is anticipated to run until the end of 2026.
This retrofit program, which was undertaken last month, will significantly improve the passenger experience but involves removing multiple aircraft from service all at once.
In addition, the repeated closure of Pakistani airspace, pushing flights on some international routes to take longer routes, has added to the complexity.
In an official release, Air India stated, "The suspension is mainly necessitated by the scheduled shortage of Air India's fleet, with the airline having begun retrofitting 26 of its Boeing 787-8 aircraft last month.". This large retrofit program, targeting to improve customer experience significantly, requires a long-term unavailability of several aircraft at a time until at least the end of 2026. That, along with the ongoing closure of airspace above Pakistan, affects the airline's long-haul operations, resulting in longer flight routes and higher operational complexity.
Those passengers who have reservations on the Delhi-Washington sector after September 1 will be notified and provided with options to either rebook on other flights or get full refunds. Air India assured travelers that they can always travel to Washington, D.C., through connecting flights with one-stop layovers from its U.S. hubs in New York, Newark, Chicago, and San Francisco with the help of Alaska Airlines, United Airlines, and Delta Air Lines.
The carrier will have non-stop flights between six North American cities and India, including Toronto and Vancouver.
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