Air India Flight Cancellation: Airline cuts international flights; suspends services on 6 overseas routes - Check list

Air India Flight Cancellation: Air India on Wednesday, May 13, announced a reduction of international flights and a temporary suspension of services on six routes, including Delhi-Chicago, amid airspace curbs and high jet fuel prices.

The loss-making airline, which has already reduced flights on certain routes, said the latest announced rationalisation of services will be in place during the June-August period.

A combination of factors, including continued airspace restrictions over certain regions and record-high jet fuel prices for international operations, is significantly impacting the commercial viability of certain planned services, Air India said in a statement.

Air India Flight Cancellation Rumour: The airline clarified

Earlier, there was misleading information circulating all over the internet that due to the soaring jet fuel prices, Tata-owned Air India took a crucial step to cut down all its international flights for three months, starting in June.

Air India issued a clarification on the X platform. The post read, “Malicious and fabricated claims circulating on certain platforms alleging that Air India has cancelled all international flights are completely false and baseless.”

It further added, for accurate information, please rely only on official Air India channels.

Air India has, however, implemented reductions across parts of its international network for three months starting in June as higher fuel costs and longer flying times hurt profitability on several routes, according to an Economic Times report.

Air India CEO Campbell Wilson last week said that the airline would continue reducing international services amid higher fuel prices and geopolitical tensions.

Facing rising financial pressure and operational challenges, Air India has intensified its internal compliance and cost-control measures, with the airline terminating more than 1,000 employees over the last three years for ethical misconduct and policy violations.

The disclosure was made by Wilson during a town hall meeting with employees last week.

Wilson reportedly told staff that the airline had taken action against employees involved in multiple violations, including misuse of the Employee Leisure Travel (ELT) system, smuggling items off aircraft and allowing excess baggage without proper charges.

Air India Flight Cancellation: Cancelled routes

The airline has suspended flights from Delhi to destinations including Chicago, Newark, Singapore and Shanghai as part of those temporary adjustments.

Air India is facing mounting pressure after the closure of Pakistani airspace forced several westbound flights to take longer routes, significantly raising fuel and crew costs.

Flights headed to Europe and North America are now taking extended flight paths, with some North America-bound services making technical stops at Vienna or Stockholm, adding to operational expenses.