Quick Links US-India air market before the pandemic Halting of operations during the pandemic US-India operations Post Pandemic and what the future might be like In August this year, the number of flights between the US and India was as high as 287 . Carriers such as Air India (AI), American Airlines (AA), and United Airlines (UA) were at the forefront of these operations. Air India has also set its sights on adding new destinations in the US .
The US has always been a powerhouse in the aviation industry, with annual earnings amounting to $488 billion, reported GlobalAir.com . India, on the other hand, saw one of the largest aircraft orders last year and is set to spearhead the aviation market in Asia.
In this article, we are going to dive deeper into how the air market between these two nations has developed in recent years. US-India air market before the pandemic India being demoted to Category 2 In 2014, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) downgraded India’s safety ranking to Category 2 after it was found that the aviation authorities in India hadn't complied with the safety standards set by ICAO . This meant two major airlines from India - Air India and Jet Airways - weren't able to expand their operations to the US.
CNTraveler had reported about some of the reasons behind India being placed into Category 2: "India was demoted after a 2012 audit found deficiencies in its supervision of airline operations; at the time, there were concerns about whether its airlines were growing too quickly (in fact, one high-profile startup, Kingfisher, went bankrupt). These international aviation safety assessments, carried out by the FAA, don’t target specific airlines; rather, they evaluate factors like whether the country has enough safety inspectors." A year later, India was promoted to Category 1 after Anthony Foxx, the Transportation Secretary, deemed that India's aviation industry met all international standards.
A year before being promoted, Air India had joined the Star Alliance as well, giving the carrier opportunities to work with airlines that were a part of the alliance. A year or so before the pandemic It was reported in FortuneIndia that until December 2019, only Air India and United Airlines were operating direct flights between the US and India. Later, Delta Air Lines (DL) started competing with the aforementioned carriers for operations between India and the US.
American Airlines (AA) had no intentions of serving India in 2018. Vasu Raja, American’s Vice President Network Planning, had even talked to ViewFromTheWing.com and said that the carrier "won't fly to India anytime soon".
Three cities are connected to the country’s capital territory. Some of the reasons why major carriers such as AA weren't looking to operate in India include: The fare environment in India wasn't as good as airlines had hoped. Fuel prices were high.
Many airlines (such as AA) didn't have local partners in the US. American Airlines did highlight that there was a possibility of operating to Southern India, as Vasu Raja had said: “There is growing demand in places in South India, especially and interestingly enough from markets in the North Texas area..
. in the future where we have more long range 787-9 airplanes it could become something that’s more in the decision set.” Halting of operations during the pandemic CNN reported that a total of 64 airlines were killed during the pandemic.
According to BusinessToday , during the pandemic, "domestic air passenger traffic declined by 0.3 percent in 2019-20 and by 61.7 percent in 2021" in India.
The following figures highlight the losses suffered by airlines and airports in India and the US: According to BusinessToday , airports and airlines in India incurred losses of approximately $611 million and $2.2 billion, respectively. In December 2021, Air India and SpiceJet had outstanding dues of $280 million and $22 million to the Airports Authority of India (AAI).
Five airlines in the US suffered losses of $63 billion in 2020, according to McKinsey and Company . In March 2022, Times of India reported that after a ban of nearly two years, India resumed regular international flights, though there was an "air bubble agreement", which allowed Air India to fly from India to San Francisco and Newark. Under the agreement, flights between Kempegowda International Airport in Bangalore and San Francisco International Airport (SFO) started.
This was a nearly 8,700-mile journey spanning sixteen hours. During this time, operations between India and the US were conducted on nine routes, with United Airlines operating on three of them while Air India operated on the rest. US-India operations Post Pandemic and what the future might be like In 2021, AA inaugurated its nonstop service between New York John F.
Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) on its Boeing 777-300ER in 2021. This came after the travel restrictions around the world were slowly being loosened. In 2022, a safety audit conducted by ICAO revealed that India's aviation safety standards had improved significantly, as India's aerodrome licensing score increased from 72.
36 % to 92.68 % and that the airworthiness score had increased from 90.20 to 97.
06 %, reported the Economic Times . The safety audit by the FAA in the same year revealed something similar. A DGCA officer was quoted to have said: “The FAA audit went off extremely well.
In a record of sorts, India did not get any adverse observations. On the contrary, in a number of cases, about 90% received appreciation. The audit was conducted twice in the current and previous week.
This was the best India has ever performed in an FAA Audit till date.” These wonderful results in the audit meant that unlike the case in 2014, carriers could look to expand US-India operations. In August 2024, the most frequently-operated route between the US and India was between Delhi and San Francisco.
Let's take a look at the major carriers currently operating between the US and India: Air India operates a three-class Boeing 777-300ER between Mumbai Airport and New York JFK Airport (JFK) as well as Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR). On operations between Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore to San Francisco, the carrier deploys the Boeing Boeing 777-200LR . American Airlines operates 777-300ERs having 304 passenger seats in a three-class format.
United operates its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. Some of the new operations between the US and India that are likely to be added soon are the following: United Airlines hopes to operate nonstop flights between Chicago and Delhi in 2025. Air India will begin using the A350 in its operations between New York JFK to Delhi later this year.
Air India is set to introduce a second nonstop connection option for connections between Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD) and Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL)..
