Air India Delhi-San Francisco flight returns after 8 hours in air due to technical issue

A San Francisco-bound Air India flight had to return to Delhi on Wednesday morning after being in the air for more than eight hours due to a technical issue, as per PTI citing sources.

"The aircraft landed safely and will undergo technical inspection in line with Air India's safety standards," the airline said in a statement regarding the flight that was carrying 230 passengers onboard. "Flight AI173 from Delhi to San Francisco on May 27 has returned to Delhi due to a technical issue in accordance with the laid down procedures," it added.

The flight was airborne for around 8 hours, as per information available on flight-tracking website Flightradar24.com. The aircraft started making its return journey while it was in the Chinese airspace.

The airline said that it regrets the inconvenience caused to its passengers and stated that alternative arrangements were being made to take them to their destinations at the earliest.

"In the meantime, our ground teams are providing all necessary assistance to the passengers, including refreshments, hotel accommodation or rescheduling as opted by them," the airline said.

IndiGo Bengaluru-Chennai flight evacuated

In a similar incident, an IndiGo flight that was operating from Bengaluru to Chennai on Tuesday was evacuated after smoke was detected inside the aircraft while it was taxiing out for departure. This led to an immediate evacuation of everyone present on the flight as a precautionary measure.

The airline later said in a statement, "On 26 May 2026, while IndiGo flight 6E 6017 from Bengaluru to Chennai was taxing out to the runway for departure, smoke was noticed in the aircraft. In the interest of safety, an immediate evacuation was carried out, and all the relevant authorities were informed."

In a separate incident on the same day, an Air India Express flight operating from Delhi to Patna was delayed after the scheduled aircraft developed a technical issue, according to an airline spokesperson.

Air India to cut 22% domestic flights amid high fuel prices

Air India will be cutting down on its domestic flight operations by a whopping 22 per cent due to rising fuel prices amid the ongoing West Asia conflict between Iran on one side and the US and Israel on the other.

The airline, which is already making losses, has reduced its international flight operations by around 27 per cent, as per a PTI report.

Air India operates around 4,400 weekly flights. Out of them, about 3,600 are domestic and 800 are international services.

"In continuation of our previously announced adjustments to select international services between June and August 2026, we have temporarily rationalised operations on certain domestic routes during the same period, with a reduction in frequencies on select routes," Air India said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Air India will continue to monitor demand and operating conditions closely, with a view to restoring frequencies as conditions stabilise," it said in the statement.

The carrier also said that passengers impacted by these changes will be proactively assisted with re-accommodation on alternative flights, complimentary date changes, or full refunds, as applicable.

With agency inputs