Ground Air India’s Dreamliner Fleet Immediately: Ex-Rail Official
PM Narendra Modi at the Air India plane crash site in Ahmedabad on Friday! (Image X.com)
Ex-Rail Official Calls for Grounding Dreamliner Fleet of Air India for Complete Quality Audit
By KUMAR VIKRAM
NEW DELHI, June 17, 2025 – A former Additional Member of the Railway Board has called for the immediate grounding of Air India’s entire Dreamliner fleet. He argued that such action is necessary to facilitate a comprehensive safety audit and to institutionalize stringent quality-check norms across the airline.
“The Dreamliner fleet should be immediately grounded for a week, or until the preliminary investigation report is available. The safety of passengers and crew is more important than service. Let’s not have our dreams go down again,” wrote Ravi S. Kochak, former Additional Member of the Railway Board, in a five-point suggestion submitted to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
The Raisina Hills, in an earlier report, cited The American Prospect to highlight over a decade of quality-related concerns surrounding Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner fleet. “The tragic crash of Air India Flight 171, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, in Ahmedabad this week reignited long-standing concerns over the safety and quality control of Boeing’s flagship aircraft, particularly those assembled at its South Carolina facility. Air India has at least six such questionable Dreamliners in its fleet,” the report stated, quoting warnings issued by engineers and whistleblowers.
In his brief recommendations for the DGCA, under the headline Dreamliner Shatters Our Dreams, Kochak wrote: “The CEO should be a Chartered Engineer who understands and supports engineering; the designers should be Chartered Engineers; the maintainers should be engineers with technical backgrounds; and the operators should be industrial engineers – all duly certified by an accredited institution such as the Engineering Council.”
The former railway official also advocated the creation of a “complete quality organisation,” a separate entity akin to an audit body. “The head of this department should report directly to the CEO, whether the function pertains to design, maintenance, or operations,” he noted.
“A Whistleblower Protection Policy must be put in place. The agreement form should be signed by all personnel in the organisation, valid for one year and renewable with a fresh signature,” he added. The DGCA also has issued a circular recently for safety drill for airliners.
He further recommended that “the Dreamliner must undergo an external round check personally conducted by the pilot and co-pilot before push-back, to inspect for structural weaknesses and perform other visual safety checks, as mandatory.” He noted, “I have seen some captains of domestic flights perform this, but not all.” Kochak shared his suggestions in a post on LinkedIn.
Following the crash in Ahmedabad, at least two more international flights operated by Air India—owned by the Tata Group in alliance with Singapore Airlines—have reported technical snags. In recent months, passengers have increasingly complained about deteriorating travel experiences with the carrier.
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