Snags in the Boeing 787 aircraft have been reported several times in the last few months across the world. Five incidents of issues with engines, gears, flaps, loss of cabin pressure and altitude were reported in Boeing 787 aircraft this year, according to AeroInside. Air India itself has faced issues with this aircraft for over a decade, the most recent on December 13, 2024. While travelling from New Delhi to Birmingham, flight AI-113 reported a hydraulic leak in the nose gear during its final approach to Birmingham’s runway 15. On landing, the aircraft was towed away and grounded for 28 hours.

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However, two years later, a Japan Airlines 787 aircraft experienced fuel leakage twice in March 2013, grounding it. Similarly, issues with the main batteries in an United Airlines 787 aircraft was reported. Both Japan and United States’ governments grounded its fleet of aircrafts while undertaking a comprehensive review.

In India, Boeing had advised Air India to avoid flying Dreamliner near high-level thunderstorms, citing an increased risk of icing on the engines which led to the withdrawal of the aircraft on the Delhi-Tokyo route. As the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) safety probe continued, an Air India Delhi-Kolkata 787 aircraft returned to Delhi after its windshield suffered a crack, and two other 787 planes were grounded as their GE engines belonged to the same series which the FAA were examining.

Within 14 months since its launch, Air India’s Dreamliner fleet faced 136 minor glitches. Due to its grounding, Air India incurred additional expenditure of ₹60 lakh per day, due to substitution of other aircraft on its route and an extra cost of ₹1.43 crore per day, for aircraft financing and pilot maintenance, stated Ministry of Civil Aviation in Rajya Sabha. In response, Boeing implemented a ‘modification package’ comprising of upgrades to aircraft software and components via a 10-day maintenance grounding of all Dreamliner aircraft.