Air India Mumbai-San Francisco flight delayed due to technical snag, will depart today

An Air India flight AI-179, scheduled to depart from Mumbai to San Francisco at 4 p.m. on Friday, was delayed due to a technical issue. Later, the flight was pushed back to 7.17 pm yesterday. However, it had to return as one passenger was feeling unwell. The ailing passenger deboarded the flight. 

The night landing restrictions at SFO had set in along with the crew flight duty limitations. The plane will now take off at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, according to a report published by newswire ANI. 

Air India spokesperson, in an official statement, said, "AI-179 from Mumbai to San Francisco, scheduled to depart at 1600 hrs on Friday, was delayed due to a technical issue arising just before departure. Giving top priority to safety issues, the aircraft was held back for engineering checks."

“Meanwhile, a few guests decided to discontinue the journey and the flight got further delayed as their baggage had to be offloaded from the aircraft. The flight pushed back at 1917 hours but had to ramp return due to one guest feeling unwell….," he said. 

The spokesperson further stated, "While the ailing guest was being deboarded with his baggage, the night landing restrictions at SFO had set in along with the crew flight duty limitations.'

Passengers were offered hotel accommodation, complimentary rescheduling, and served refreshments at the airport, said Air India as quoted by ANI. 

“The flight has now been rescheduled at 1030 hours tomorrow (Saturday). Inconvenience caused to guests is sincerely regretted,” it added. 

Meanwhile, Tata Group-owned Air India on Thursday announced salary hikes for its employees and introduced an annual performance bonus for pilots. The airline is in the process of revamping itself under a five-year transformation plan, announced in late 2022.

Since the Tata Group took over the loss-making airline over two years ago, this is the first appraisal process for Air India staff.

It is providing competitive salary increments to attract and retain talent as part of larger efforts to have a performance-driven and meritocratic culture among the employees, the report said. 

(With ANI inputs)