Air India 787 Crashes in Western India

A Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner of Air India crashed during takeoff from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

Devaansh Dhoot

Thursday, June 12, 2025 at 11:33 AM ET

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Ryan Ewing

An Air India 787 in London (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)

A Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner of Air India crashed during takeoff from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The aircraft, registered as VT-ANB, is an 11-year-old aircraft with MSN 36279.

The jet was delivered to Air India brand new in January 2014. The airline had 242 people on board, including 2 pilots and 10 cabin crew.

According to the manifest, “of these, 169 are Indian nationals, 53 are British nationals, 1 Canadian national, and 7 Portuguese nationals.” Any news regarding fatalities is yet to be received

The flight was scheduled for takeoff at 1:10 p.m. local time from Ahmedabad, operating AI171 to London Gatwick.

Terrifying final moments of Air India Flight AI 171 crashing into a residential area in Ahmedabad today. Clearly catastrophic loss of lift. Details awaited. pic.twitter.com/TbgCjPLXXc

— Shiv Aroor (@ShivAroor) June 12, 2025

Footage available on social media shows large plumes of smoke with the aircraft crashing not too far away from the airport premises.

The Aviation Minister of India, Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu, has posted on his official X account that “We are on highest alert. I am personally monitoring the situation and have directed all aviation and emergency response agencies to take swift and coordinated action.”

Visuals emerging from Ahmedabad show the 787’s APU exhaust and aft bulkhead portions resting atop a building.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has said that the pilot of the aircraft had made a mayday call moments before the crash. Statement from the DGCA states that the flight took off from runway 23 and no further communication was received after the mayday call.

According to the authorities in Ahmedabad, 204 victims have been recovered, however, it has not been made clear whether they were from the aircraft or the ground. News of 41 people being injured has also surfaced, as shared by the BBC.

The aircraft had crashed into the premises of the nearby B.J. Medical College and Civil Hospital. A local politician claimed that doctors were rescued from the accommodation after the crash.

One passenger of the ill-fated AI171 has managed to survive. A British citizen, seated in seat 11A. Indian media reported him saying: “Thirty seconds after take-off, there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed. It all happened so quickly.”

Another confirmed casualty of this incident is former Chief Minister of Gujrat, Vijay Rupani.

NTSB investigators are also on their way to India to help with the investigation.

This is a developing story.

Devaansh Dhoot

Allegiant Cuts Some Flights Amid Transborder Slump

Allegiant is trimming some flights as U.S. and Canadian airlines continue to report a slowdown in travel demand between the two countries.

Ryan Ewing

Thursday, June 12, 2025 at 11:31 AM ET

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Ryan Ewing

An Allegiant A319 in Pittsburgh. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)

Allegiant is trimming some flights as U.S. and Canadian airlines continue to report a slowdown in travel demand between the two countries.

Cascadia Daily News reports that the ultra-low-cost carrier will reduce service to some markets from Bellingham, Washington. The city is located approximately 20 miles from the U.S.-Canada border, making it a popular option for Canadian travelers.

The Port of Bellingham’s public affairs administrator, Mike Hogan, told the outlet that Allegiant will suspend its service to Palm Springs, California, until the fall. According to Cirium Diio schedule data, this service will now resume in October.

In addition, the airline shifted its Bellingham-to-Las Vegas route to five days per week instead of daily. Starting in July, this service will no longer operate on Tuesdays.

Last month, Allegiant’s CEO Greg Anderson said the carrier will “continue to adjust capacity aggressively during the remainder of the year,” noting “broad economic uncertainty.”

An airline spokesperson did not confirm the cuts were specifically tied to changes in transborder demand, only adding that it is “not uncommon for us to change the frequency of a route,” in a statement to the outlet.

Hogan shared that Bellingham Airport has seen a decline in Canadian travelers. The airport relies heavily on transborder traffic with scheduled service from Allegiant, Alaska, and San Juan Airlines. Allegiant is Bellingham’s largest airline.

Despite these cuts, Allegiant’s scheduled capacity in July at the airport is still up by around 4% compared to the same period last year. The carrier inaugurated a new route between Bellingham and San Diego in May.

Other airlines – including Air Canada and WestJet – have substantially scaled back their transborder capacity amid political tensions between the two countries. Combined, the two carriers will offer around 10% fewer seats to the U.S. next month, according to Cirium Diio schedule data.

Ryan Ewing

Ryan founded AirlineGeeks.com back in February 2013 and has amassed considerable experience in the aviation sector. His work has been featured in several publications and news outlets, including CNN, WJLA, CNET, and Business Insider. During his time in the industry, he's worked in roles pertaining to airport/airline operations while holding a B.S. in Air Transportation Management from Arizona State University along with an MBA. Ryan has experience in several facets of the industry from behind the yoke of a Cessna 172 to interviewing airline industry executives. Ryan works for AirlineGeeks' owner FLYING Media, spearheading coverage in the commercial aviation space.

Air India Crash a Deadly First for 787

The crash of Air India Flight 171 on Thursday marked the first fatal crash and the first hull loss for a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Zach Vasile

Thursday, June 12, 2025 at 11:05 AM ET

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Ryan Ewing

An Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)

The crash of an Air India flight on Thursday marked the first fatal crash and total hull loss for Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium.

But the aircraft has faced scrutiny over technical problems for years. Concerns have centered on manufacturing issues and alleged gaps in Boeing’s safety and quality control processes, which first came to light following the crashes of two 737 MAX jets in 2018 and 2019.

The FAA paused deliveries of the 787 for nearly a year between 2021 and 2022 and again briefly in 2023 over problems with various components, including paper-thin gaps in the aircraft’s body. The agency also revoked Boeing’s ability to inspect and issue safety certifications for the Dreamliner.

Whistleblowers who spoke before Congress at the time pointed to alleged shoddy practices at the manufacturer’s South Carolina facility, where the 787 is assembled.

Boeing disputed those accounts and said exhaustive inspections of its aircraft did not support the whistleblowers’ claims. The company also said it had tested the 787’s airframe with stress levels far beyond what it would experience in its normal service life and found no evidence of fatigue.

Earlier, in 2013, the 787 was grounded over problems with its electrical system and lithium-ion batteries, which on multiple occasions overheated and caused fire and smoke. Boeing instituted a fix, and the aircraft was allowed to resume operations.

The cause of Thursday’s accident remains under investigation.

‘Tragic Accident’

The Dreamliner entered service in 2011 with All Nippon. The aircraft involved in Thursday’s crash, a 787-8, was built in 2013.

There are 1,148 787 aircraft in service globally, with an average age of 7.5 years.

“We are in contact with Air India regarding Flight 171 and stand ready to support them,” Boeing said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with the passengers, crew, first responders, and all affected.”

The Air India flight was taking off from an airport in the city of Ahmedabad en route to London Gatwick with 242 people on board when it lost altitude and crashed into the campus of a medical college shortly after 1:30 p.m. local time.

Indian officials have confirmed 204 deaths from the crash so far, according to The New York Times. That figure includes five students who were inside the college’s dining hall.

The Tata Group, which owns Air India, confirmed on social media that Air India Flight 171 “was involved in a tragic accident.” It said the aircraft was carrying 169 Indian citizens, 53 British, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian.

Ahmedabad’s police commissioner has not ruled out the possibility of survivors, the Times reported.

Footage shared with the newspaper showed multiple burned buildings and the aircraft’s tail section jutting out of the rubble.

The last fatal incident on a mainline Air India flight was in 1985, when a bomb planted by separatist terrorists brought down a Boeing 747 over the Atlantic Ocean near Ireland, killing 329 people.

Zach Vasile

Zach Vasile is a writer and editor covering news in all aspects of commercial aviation. He has reported for and contributed to the Manchester Journal Inquirer, the Hartford Business Journal, the Charlotte Observer, and the Washington Examiner, with his area of focus being the intersection of business and government policy.

Customs and Border Protection Buying Flight Records of U.S. Travelers

A newly unearthed contract shows U.S. Customs and Border Protection is buying the personal information of American airline passengers.

Zach Vasile

Thursday, June 12, 2025 at 07:30 AM ET

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Ryan Ewing

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection vehicle in Nogales, Arizona. (Photo: Shutterstock | Matt Gush)

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is buying the personal information of passengers on major U.S.airlines through a little-known intermediary organization, according to a new report.

404 Media revealed Tuesday that it obtained a copy of a data-sharing contract between the federal agency and the Airlines Reporting Corporation, which provides ticket transaction settlement services between airlines and travel agencies. According to Wired, which worked with 404 Media to break the news, CBP uses the data to help federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies keep tabs on the “U.S. domestic air travel” of “persons of interest.”

As part of the contract, the Airlines Reporting Corporation asked CBP not to reveal where the data came from unless ordered to by a court.

The information allegedly includes passenger names, their flight itineraries, and financial details. A separate document from the Department of Homeland Security, of which CBP is a part, shows the agency has over a billion such records spanning 39 months of past and future travel. Federal agents can search the database by name, credit card number, or airline.

According to Wired, the data sold by the Airlines Reporting Corporation comes from accredited travel agencies, not the airlines themselves, so a traveler who buys directly from a carrier won’t have their data show up in the company’s records.

Industry Involvement

A DHS report claims the Airlines Reporting Corporation is “owned and operated by eight U.S. major airlines,” though it did not identify them. The company’s website shows its board of directors includes executives from American, Delta, United, Southwest, JetBlue, and Alaska, in addition to Air Canada, Air France, and Lufthansa.

In a statement, U.S. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon called the Airlines Reporting Corporation a “shady data broker” and said he would push for answers from the industry.

“ARC has refused to answer oversight questions from Congress, so I have already contacted the major airlines that own ARC — like Delta, American Airlines, and United — to find out why they gave the green light to sell their customers’ data to the government,” Wyden said.

CBP defended the data-sharing arrangement in a statement to Wired.

“CBP is committed to protecting individuals’ privacy during the execution of its mission to protect the American people, safeguard our borders, and enhance the nation’s economic prosperity,” a spokesperson told the magazine. “CBP follows a robust privacy policy as we protect the homeland through the air, land, and maritime environments against illegal entry, illicit activity, or other threats to national sovereignty and economic security.”

The contract began in June 2024 and may extend to 2029, the documents show.

In May, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, better known as ICE and separate from CBP, revealed it had purchased information from the Airlines Reporting Corporation. This prompted 404 Media to investigate, and its reporters found that several other government agencies have obtained data from the company in the past.

Aside from CBP, the list includes the Secret Service, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Transportation Security Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

Zach Vasile

Avelo Adds Its First Overnight Flights

The ultra-low-cost carrier is slated to operate up to 88 peak daily flights in July, according to Cirium Diio schedule data.

Ryan Ewing

Thursday, June 12, 2025 at 06:30 AM ET

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Ryan Ewing

An Avelo Boeing 737-800. (Photo: Shutterstock | Markus Mainka)

Avelo will launch its red-eye flights this week as the carrier continues to expand its network. The ultra-low-cost carrier is slated to operate up to 88 peak daily flights in July, according to Cirium Diio schedule data.

But at least one of those flights will operate during late-night hours. Avelo’s director of network planning, Mike Corcoran, told Air Service One that “we’re going to try our first scheduled service red-eye this summer.”

This route, according to Corcoran, will be from Avelo’s New Haven, Connecticut, base to San Juan, Puerto Rico. At 1,624 miles, this is also one of the airline’s longest scheduled routes.

Per Cirium’s data, these overnight flights are scheduled to launch on Thursday, departing New Haven at 8:59 p.m. before arriving in San Juan at 12:45 a.m. local time the next day.

The aircraft then departs San Juan at 2:42 a.m., and is scheduled to land back in New Haven at 6:45 a.m. local time.

This late-night flight will operate on Sundays and Thursdays through September.

“One of our standards is to ‘Keep it Simple,’” Corcoran told Air Service One. “Red-eyes would add crew and operational complexity to our network, but it’s not a hard-set rule to avoid them if there’s other benefit to be found. We’d certainly look to add red-eyes selectively if there’s reason to believe that it’s the best use of aircraft time without adding cost or operational risk.”

Ryan Ewing

Bedford Calls Mandatory Pilot Retirement Age ‘Arbitrary’

The Senate Commerce Committee held its hearing for Bedford on Wednesday, where he was pressed on whether legislators should raise the retirement age.

Ryan Ewing

Wednesday, June 11, 2025 at 01:55 PM ET

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Ryan Ewing

Former Republic Airways CEO Bryan Bedford. (Photo: Republic Airways)

Bryan Bedford – who currently leads Republic Airways – didn’t mince words when discussing the mandatory airline pilot retirement age. Bedford was nominated as Federal Aviation Administration head by President Donald Trump in March.

The Senate Commerce Committee held its confirmation hearing for Bedford on Wednesday, where he was pressed on whether legislators should raise the retirement age.

Last year, a Senate committee narrowly struck down plans to include the age increase as part of the FAA Reauthorization Act. Had this provision been passed, airline pilots would be able to fly until 67, an increase from the current age of 65.

“So those [who] wish to serve having an arbitrary mandatory retirement age doesn’t seem like the right answer to me,” Bedford said during the hearing.

Raising the retirement age was met with immense pushback from industry groups, including the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), which is the largest pilots union, representing around 79,000 members.

Inside a Boeing 787 Dreamliner flight deck at the Farnborough Airshow (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)

“We had a of debate on the merits of it, which are, I think, pretty clear that we have really experienced pilots that still have a lot of gas in the tank … and a lot of mentoring that they can bring to the table for the younger workforce that we’re developing for the future,” he added.

International Logistics

Bedford noted that raising the retirement age comes with some strings attached. These include alignment with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards.

A handful of countries allow their airline pilots to fly beyond 65, but that age is largely the standard worldwide.

“But then there’s the logistics of the fact that these men and women are actually at the top of the fleet food chain,” Bedford continued. “They’re flying in the left seat of the most advanced widebody aircraft across the planet, and that’s great.”

“We have to be sensitive to the fact that the disruption that it would cause if in fact they can’t operate widebody airplanes and have to be deregulated down to a narrowbody jet may prohibit them from even wanting to serve.”

ICAO will become “very critical” to raising the retirement age, Bedford said. “I think it’s absolutely possible to accomplish that in a reasonable period of time.”

ICAO last raised the mandatory retirement age from 60 to 65 in 2006.

Ryan Ewing

Finnair Revives North American Route

Finnair currently has six destinations in North America: New York-JFK, Chicago O’Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, and Seattle.

Zach Vasile

Wednesday, June 11, 2025 at 01:23 PM ET

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Ryan Ewing

A Finnair Airbus A330. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)

Finnish flag carrier Finnair is restarting nonstop service to Canada for the first time in over a decade.

The airline announced its Helsinki-Toronto route will relaunch on May 4, 2026. Flights will operate three times a week during the summer, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Sundays, using Airbus A330s.

Finnair last flew between Helsinki and Toronto in 2015. When the route restarts, it will be the only nonstop flight linking Canada and Finland.

More North America Service

Finnair currently has six destinations in North America: New York-JFK, Chicago O’Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami, and Seattle.

Airline officials said the Toronto route will give North American travelers better access to Helsinki, tourist spots around the Nordic countries, and the Baltic states further east, which receive relatively few transatlantic visitors. They also envision Helsinki serving as a bridge between Canada and India, with the flight from Toronto timed to allow connections to Finnair’s daily service to Delhi.

“Canada is fast becoming one of the most popular long-haul destinations for Europeans, while the Nordics are also heating up amongst North American travelers, so we are confident that this route will prove a hit with both business and leisure travelers heading across the Atlantic,” said Javier Roig Sanchez, Finnair’s general manager for North America, in a news release. “We also expect to see strong demand for travel between Canada and India, as customers experience the ease and convenience of connecting via Helsinki Airport, when travelling between North America and Asia.”

Toronto is the second new destination Finnair has announced for 2026. The first was the Norwegian town of Alta, one of the northernmost settlements in the world. Flights between Helsinki and Alta are scheduled to begin on March 29, 2026.

Finnair mainly serves destinations in Europe, but over the last several years has been expanding its presence in North America and the Middle East. Like all other Western carriers, it has been banned from using Russian airspace, making it more difficult and costly to maintain its routes to East Asia.

Zach Vasile

Man Posed as Flight Attendant to Book Free Trips

A federal jury found Tiron Alexander, 35, guilty of wire fraud and entering into a secure area of an airport under false pretenses.

Zach Vasile

Wednesday, June 11, 2025 at 11:42 AM ET

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Ryan Ewing

United Airlines' Airbus A321neo cabin (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Andrew Chen)

A Florida man has been convicted of fraud after posing as a flight attendant to book over 120 free flights.

A federal jury found Tiron Alexander, 35, guilty of wire fraud and entering into a secure area of an airport under false pretenses, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.

Prosecutors said Alexander exploited a program offered by airlines for pilots and flight attendants. He ordered the tickets through one carrier’s website while claiming to work for various other airlines and submitted false identifying information to support his application. He used 30 different badge numbers and dates of hire during the course of the scheme.

Alexander ultimately booked over 120 flights between 2018 and 2024 but only flew in person on 34 of them, government attorneys said.

He is expected to be sentenced Aug. 25.

Zach Vasile

IATA: Delivery Delays Likely to Last For Years

The International Air Transport Association said a variety of factors will continue to delay the delivery of aircraft to airlines for years to come.

Zach Vasile

Wednesday, June 11, 2025 at 10:59 AM ET

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Ryan Ewing

Boeing's Everett, Wash. factory in 2019. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Fangzhong Guo)

Delays in aircraft deliveries will likely persist through 2025 and could continue until the end of the decade, according to a report from the International Air Transport Association.

The airline trade group said manufacturer backlogs now exceed 17,000 aircraft, up from 10,000-11,000 before the COVID-19 pandemic, with an implied wait time of 14 years. IATA linked the delays to supply chain issues, including problems with engines and a shortage of spare parts. The slowdown could be made worse by tariffs imposed by the U.S., the report said.

A number of airlines have delayed the launch of new routes because they do not have the aircraft necessary to support them. The holdup has also increased leasing costs and hurt efficiency, since airlines are sometimes stuck using airplanes that are poorly suited for a given service.

This year, 1,692 aircraft are expected to be delivered to airlines. This is the highest number since 2018 but is still down 26% compared to year-ago estimates, IATA noted.

According to the report, over 1,100 aircraft less than 10 years old are currently in storage, constituting 3.8% of the worldwide fleet. That figure stood at 1.3% between 2015 and 2018.

Nearly 70% of those grounded aircraft have Pratt & Whitney PW1000G engines, which have been the subject of a mass recall and inspection effort since 2023. Some of the engines have parts made with contaminated powdered metal, which causes cracking. Pratt is now in the process of checking the powerplants and performing repairs where needed.

RTX Corp., Pratt’s parent company, has estimated the recall will cost about $7 billion.

Despite those challenges, IATA predicted airlines will see a rise in profitability due to falling fuel prices and increased passenger demand. Net profits are projected to grow from $32.4 billion in 2024 to $36 billion in 2025.

Zach Vasile

Silver Airways Ceases Operations After 14 Years

Florida-based Silver Airways halted all service on Wednesday following a nearly five-month long Ch. 11 bankruptcy process.

Ryan Ewing

Wednesday, June 11, 2025 at 09:07 AM ET

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Ryan Ewing

A Silver Airways ATR 72 aircraft (Photo: AirlineGeeks | William Derrickson)

Florida-based Silver Airways halted all service on Wednesday following a nearly five-month-long bankruptcy process.

“We regret to inform you that we are ceasing operations as of today, June 11, 2025,” the carrier said in a social media post. Silver planned to operate just over 1,500 scheduled flights this month, per Cirium Diio schedule data.

Investment firm Wexford Capital purchased the airline’s assets – including its fleet of ATR aircraft – but opted not to continue operating them.

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A post shared by Silver Airways (@flysilverairways)

“Silver entered into a transaction to sell its assets to another airline holding company, who unfortunately has determined to not continue Silver’s flight operations in Florida, the Bahamas and the Caribbean,” the company added.

Bankruptcy Plan

Silver filed for bankruptcy protection on Dec. 30, with plans to exit the process by the first quarter of 2025. However, bankruptcy proceedings continued to drag on.

According to court documents, the airline’s assets were valued at approximately $90 million, fully encumbered by $400 million in secured debt. Additionally, the airline owed $8 million in taxes and $27.7 million to unsecured creditors at the time of the bankruptcy filing.

Silver and its subsidiary Seaborne Virgin Islands reported months of negative cash flow with losses of $467,000 in February and $1.22 million in just the first two weeks of March.

Founded in 2011, the carrier was born from the assets of Gulfstream International Airlines. Throughout its history, Silver operated a broad network, including scheduled flights and government-subsidized Essential Air Service routes.

As of this month, it had bases in Tampa and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, along with San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Ryan Ewing