Today, we’re seeing absolutely horrifying scenes out of Ahmedabad, as a London-bound Air Boeing 787 crashed shortly after takeoff, with 242 people onboard. While a minor detail in the scheme of things, I think it’s interesting to note a reason that another Air India Boeing 787-8 diverted this afternoon.
In this post:
Air India’s Delhi to Paris flight returns to Delhi after takeoff
Today (June 12, 2025), one of Air India’s daily flights from Delhi (DEL) to Paris (CDG) diverted. Specifically, AI143 was operated by a 10-year-old Boeing 787-8 with the registration code VT-ANU.
The plane took off from Delhi at 1:26PM, ready to operate the 4,088-mile journey to France. The aircraft climbed up to 38,000 feet and flew southwest for roughly an hour, before making a u-turn and returning to Delhi. The aircraft landed back in Delhi at 3:59PM local time, just over 2.5 hours after it first departed.
So, why did the aircraft divert? Coincidentally, this was the same aircraft variant as the one involved in the crash, but that’s not the reason for the diversion. Instead, reports suggest that the reason is because Air India CEO Campbell Wilson was onboard this flight, headed to Paris for next week’s Paris Air Show.
Clearly the decision was made that the priority was having him on the ground in India to deal with this crisis for the airline. Keep in mind that Air India doesn’t have Wi-Fi on its 787s, so this made contacting him a bit challenging.
Presumably the pilots were alerted from operations about the situation, and the crew then let Wilson know. I’m curious to what extent details were relayed to passengers. I can’t imagine that the crew announced “hey, a jet identical to this one just crashed, so we need to return to India so that our CEO can deal with the situation.”
I suspect this was instead blamed on “operational reasons,” or something, and given the lack of Wi-Fi, passengers were probably very confused until they landed back in Delhi, and connected to their phones. Presumably the airline will arrange another flight to Paris.
I can’t help but wonder if some passengers may feel uncomfortable taking it, in light of all that happened, plus the flight being operated by the same aircraft variant (to be clear, I’m not saying that’s logical, but fear often isn’t logical).
Was Air India’s decision to divert the flight reasonable?
People online are divided about whether diverting a flight to drop off the CEO in a time of crisis is a reasonable decision.
Some people argue that the plane should’ve continued to Paris, and Wilson could’ve then turned right around, and been back in Delhi within 24 hours. At a minimum, 200+ passengers are probably looking at a delay of six or more hours (conservatively), so that’s a lot of wasted time.
At the same time, this is a time of crisis and horrible tragedy for the company, and it’s not unreasonable that the company needs the CEO on the ground in India to be able to manage the situation and communicate publicly as much as possible, ASAP.
Personally, I think this was completely reasonable on Air India’s part. It’s one thing if the diversion were over something that wasn’t actually serious, but we’re talking about what’s potentially the most significant plane crash we’ve seen in a very long time.
The airline industry is one of passion, and I can’t even imagine the horror that Wilson had to come to terms with when he learned what happened. Airline executives are usually focused on the business side of things, but also have an unwavering commitment to safety. To learn of one of “your” wide body jets going down must be bone-chilling.
Bottom line
An Air India Boeing 787 scheduled to fly from Delhi to Paris returned to its origin, landing there around 2.5 hours after it first departed. This was because Air India CEO Campbell Wilson was onboard, and was needed on the ground in India to deal with this tragedy.
While this of course represented a significant amount of wasted time for passengers, I think this was a fair enough decision, given the level of tragedy we’re seeing.
What do you make of this Air India diversion?
Diversion was likely due to the airspace closure over Iraq and neighbouring middle eastern airspace. The routing already diverts from it’s normal course because of Pakistan airspace closure, this sudden airspace closure after getting airborne would not leave it with enough fuel to complete the flight. Several flights were diverted that day.
Don’t agree with the diversion but this was certainly more warranted than diverting for a sick dog.
AI has a dual hub model, DEL and BOM. The point where the flight turned around over Indian airspace is closer to the latter than the former. BOM is also the location of Tata Sons HQ.
Therefore it's intriguing why the flight turned around, instead of going to BOM, where the CEO could have dealt with the issue as he and the management wanted him to.
Undoubtedly there's an explanation, but at this stage it's intriguing.
Probably because in the off chance they end up cancelling the flight, the logistic of handling and accommodating all the pax and crew (who are most likely based in DEL) in point of origin is much easier than stranding them in Mumbai. I don’t know how such basics things are going over people head
Couldn’t he have just parachuted out Charlie’s Angels style?
AI. should not have recalled the CEO to return to HQ / AMD considering other factors of other Co-Passengers being CRITICAL OF INCONVENIENCE, Other Legal Costs, criticisms in media...Qs. in Paris by the media ?
IS THERE NO OTHER TECHNICALLY COMPETENT PERSON A COMMANDER OR ENGINEER WHO CAN MORE RESPONSIBLY & TECHNICALLY ANSWER THE FAMILIES & MEDIA ...rather than the Media speculating of commentaries!
The CEO too would be briefed by our Competent...
AI. should not have recalled the CEO to return to HQ / AMD considering other factors of other Co-Passengers being CRITICAL OF INCONVENIENCE, Other Legal Costs, criticisms in media...Qs. in Paris by the media ?
IS THERE NO OTHER TECHNICALLY COMPETENT PERSON A COMMANDER OR ENGINEER WHO CAN MORE RESPONSIBLY & TECHNICALLY ANSWER THE FAMILIES & MEDIA ...rather than the Media speculating of commentaries!
The CEO too would be briefed by our Competent Ones & avoid speculation theories propounded by some...till the Black box reveals the Facts...!
Your peasant mind thinks it’s OK for the plane to divert?
Just because the CEO was on board.
The rich & powerful march to their own beat.
Screw the poor middle class Indians pax on board.
This crash is already a PR disaster for AI, and the last thing they need is more headlines about how the CEO is living it up at the Paris airshow while the company is dealing with a huge disaster. Lighten up on the Communist Party rhetoric - not everything is about the ruling classes lording it over glorious proletariat.
Thank goodness this was not an AA flight.
The FA’s would be fighting amongst themselves, abusive towards the passengers and refusing to serve a second round of refreshments.
There would be no ground hospitality, comprehensive onwards travel arrangements and definitely no compensation.
An AA flight would never have gotten off the ground. They'd still be arguing with passengers about the placement of their gigantically oversized crew bags in overhead lockers meant for the paying customers.
you both are not wrong
Pretty easy solution...
1. The CEO needed to return. So turn the plane around. OTOH- This is not the fault/responsibility. They need to be compensated.
2. Have a relief crew waiting on the ground to replace the other crew. (I assumed they timed out.) Recater the flight.
3. Once landed, while taxing, inform passengers what happened. Deplane with food/drink vouchers.
4. Offer passengers the opportunity to not fly and fly at...
Pretty easy solution...
1. The CEO needed to return. So turn the plane around. OTOH- This is not the fault/responsibility. They need to be compensated.
2. Have a relief crew waiting on the ground to replace the other crew. (I assumed they timed out.) Recater the flight.
3. Once landed, while taxing, inform passengers what happened. Deplane with food/drink vouchers.
4. Offer passengers the opportunity to not fly and fly at a later date at no additional cost.
5. All passengers receive a full refund of the cost of their flight + $500 flight credit.
6. Take off again 1-2 hours later with a fully catered plane. Free booze and upgraded food.
Terrible situation, but logistically, net net, it would be a 4-6 delay in landing at the destination.
Very sensible ideas.... If not already, might I suggest pursuing a ' rewarding ' career in airline management ? The industry needs rational, competent & compassionate talent !
I can’t tell if you’re being sincere or sarcastic. It’s a fine line.
I was/am serious...
(as is this reply ! )... :)
Regarding lack of wifi on this plane this was air india's post earlier this year:
Starting 1 January 2025, in-flight Wi-Fi services available on all flights operated by Air India’s A350, B787-9 and select A321neo aircraft.
the aircraft in question was a Boeing 787-8
the Boeing 787-9s that have Wifi equipped are presumably ex-Vistara aircrafts?
They were almost over Ahmedabad when they turned around. Why not land there and offload him and continue to Paris?
Scroll down, someone asked this already
@John - AI171 AMD-LGW crashed so soon after takeoff that AMD rightly halted all subsequent flight operations (departing flights grounded; arriving flights diverted)
Given the lack of a reason for the accident - common at this point after the event - and the geopolitical issues in that part of the world, yes, it made all kinds of sense not just for that aircraft to remain in India but for other operations to be pulled back
No, stopping operations would be freaking ridiculous and completely disproportionate. You can't stop country's largest airline's operations and basically put life on hold because of one plane crash, especially since there's no indication it's not a "routine" crash with no foul play involved.
Air India is India,s worst Airliner I flew last year from Amsterdam to Delhi and can say that ,me as a frequent flyer,never before had such bad experiences by airtravellings.Its time for India to do something against this Fake company.I flew with also a Dreamliner were many issues were.Mulitimediaot working at all,Crew unpolite ECT I will never fly this Airline again.A shame for India Why Indians are going a brought for Jobs but hiring foreigners...
Air India is India,s worst Airliner I flew last year from Amsterdam to Delhi and can say that ,me as a frequent flyer,never before had such bad experiences by airtravellings.Its time for India to do something against this Fake company.I flew with also a Dreamliner were many issues were.Mulitimediaot working at all,Crew unpolite ECT I will never fly this Airline again.A shame for India Why Indians are going a brought for Jobs but hiring foreigners for Air India and Indigo?Are Indians only thinking about making Money and don't care about their country?I met in my time in India a lot of CHEATERS and liers.Nakibg Baby's and Cheating world champion,or?
Take some lessons in spelling and writing proper Englidh
Although it would be expected to respond to this specific diversion resulting from the previous tragedy, I would hope posters would show some restraint from using this incident to launch into a litany of complaints & grudges against AI. One could show a little respect and save these opinions for numerous past/future posts.
I don't mean to imply censorship, just maybe a bit more courtesy.
RIP to all pax, crew & collateral victims,...
Although it would be expected to respond to this specific diversion resulting from the previous tragedy, I would hope posters would show some restraint from using this incident to launch into a litany of complaints & grudges against AI. One could show a little respect and save these opinions for numerous past/future posts.
I don't mean to imply censorship, just maybe a bit more courtesy.
RIP to all pax, crew & collateral victims, my condolences to their next of kin.
It could have been a coincidence, but it's been reported an Air India flight, which was due to leave on Thursday night from London Gatwick to Goa, has been cancelled after the airline’s earlier crash in India.
Why would it be a coincidence when the aircraft supposed to operate London Gatwick to Goa is the one that crashed?
re-read the poster's username.
@Tim Dumdum - My immediate assumption, upon hearing cancellation announcement, is that VT-ANB (the accident aircraft) would have been the same one operating Thursday evening's LGW-GOX flight =/
Oh, that's why! Thanks for the clarification!
He could not be landed at Mumbai which was near the location where they turned around ?
He could have gone back - the rest could have gone on
Typical goof up
So you turn around, land, drop off 1 passenger and then line up to take off again....in an identical plane that fell out of the sky 2 hours before without knowing why? Genius.
AI did not cancel any other 787-8 operated flights uncle ronnie
Not just about PR but also about showing your employees you care. A lot of employees are probably pretty shaken right now and it can help morale to know leadership and employees have the same priorities
(Also mildly impressed that Air India's CEO actually flies the airline but that's not a conversation for now)
I’ve got to disagree, even using Ben‘s conservative calculations you’re costing 200+ people approximately 1200 to 1300 man hours of delay. All this so some pathetic talking suit can get back 16 to 20 hours earlier and run PR for his failing company. It’s not like he’s a first responder and can actually help victims. If only they put so much effort into running a decent airline.
The way you came up with that 1200-1300 hours delay is the most hilariously stupid thing I have seen today
I guess math is hard for you Eve?
I guess you don’t see the stupidity in that math JOHN?
That’s the thing with math. It doesn’t have feelings or emotions. It’s pretty straightforward.
You on the other hand seem all riled up.
That’s the thing with stupidity, you are up your a** so much that you don’t see the stupidity
I think this is reasonable, but I would expect the airline to provide some sort of compensation for the affected passengers.
Well firstly it'll be a flight home on BA, as the other AI Dreamliners will be grounded.
Moronic statement . Just thinking of compensation, and f- everyone else. People died, but me me me $$$$
This is obviously completely reasonable.
The last airline CEO heading to Paris during a crisis ended up having Champagne and enjoyed Paris leaving the whole airline to meltdown while blaming others for the problem.
The fallout lasted for weeks while their competitors recovered in days.
Fluffy would disagree with facts using irrelevant FAA stats.
and ended up beating all of its US competitors in financial performance that quarter - which are filed w/ the SEC - and operational statistics for all of 2024 which are filed w/ the DOT.
and the lawsuit is moving forward and the SEC and DOJ are investigating the company that is accused of causing said meltdown.
So, we have a bunch of .gov agencies involved but let us know to which FAA statistics you refer
The pilots should have announced the reason they were turning around on the PA. If you’re going to screw up the arrangements for hundreds of people for a single person then those people deserve to know why.
242 people died + countless more on ground, the statement, “screw up arrangements…for a single person” does a lot of disservice to the situation at play
Honestly is free. At a minimum the passengers deserved to know why the flight was returning rather than being lied to.
I had American almost destroy a well planned family vacation to Asia last month though bad recovery when they changed things. It cost me a great deal of money and stress to repair their damage and salvage our trip. I imagine some passengers on the AI flight were in a similar circumstance. A...
Honestly is free. At a minimum the passengers deserved to know why the flight was returning rather than being lied to.
I had American almost destroy a well planned family vacation to Asia last month though bad recovery when they changed things. It cost me a great deal of money and stress to repair their damage and salvage our trip. I imagine some passengers on the AI flight were in a similar circumstance. A better solution would have been for the flight to drop off the CEO then continue to Paris. The CEO could have arranged some transport back easily enough.
290+ people died, the least of the worry for Air India should be 250 alive people’s plans for the day!!
You are way too selfish!
Also imagine announcing you are turning around because your other flight crashed, the fear and panic it will create in the flight is bad. Saying just operational reasons is honest too. There is a thing called ERO or ERP, that was activated by the airline, it is what airlines do...
290+ people died, the least of the worry for Air India should be 250 alive people’s plans for the day!!
You are way too selfish!
Also imagine announcing you are turning around because your other flight crashed, the fear and panic it will create in the flight is bad. Saying just operational reasons is honest too. There is a thing called ERO or ERP, that was activated by the airline, it is what airlines do to react during emergencies. This very much is operational reasons
The flight was perfectly capable of operating. Therefore under no circumstances was the flight changed for operational reasons.
Air India is the airline that chose to reroute the flight despite there being zero operational reason to do so. As long as the passengers were satisfactorily re accommodated and/or compensated then nonetheless arguably AI did the right thing.
Sorry that AA's voluntary choices that almost destroyed my family vacation to Bali, cost me vast stress and...
The flight was perfectly capable of operating. Therefore under no circumstances was the flight changed for operational reasons.
Air India is the airline that chose to reroute the flight despite there being zero operational reason to do so. As long as the passengers were satisfactorily re accommodated and/or compensated then nonetheless arguably AI did the right thing.
Sorry that AA's voluntary choices that almost destroyed my family vacation to Bali, cost me vast stress and thousands of dollars to fix - and would have cost tens of thousands of dollars if I hadn't addressed the problem myself - doesn't meet with your approval.
Christian operation reasons as an excuse can be justified in cases where ERO/ERF is activated, which is rightly done here. Point is as long as pax are compensated, as you say, for this situation, this should not be any point of contention
Why return to Delhi he can Land nearby airport then Plane can Continue it's Trajectory without Panic
Because DEL is a hub and the flight was only an hour in. I think you should account for the logistic challenge of landing in a hub and a non hub and the implications it has on even switching the crew
Unless overweight, should have landed on Ahmedabad, which was near where they turned around.
The airport suspended operations…
Ahmedabad was closed after the crash
This was absolutely the right call. This isn't just a PR/optics issue, a crash is one of those situations where you can plan for it but there is still A LOT that you just have to figure out in the moment, and you need the authority the do what you need to do, and having the ultimate decision maker of the company completely out of communications during it makes it a huge challenge. This is...
This was absolutely the right call. This isn't just a PR/optics issue, a crash is one of those situations where you can plan for it but there is still A LOT that you just have to figure out in the moment, and you need the authority the do what you need to do, and having the ultimate decision maker of the company completely out of communications during it makes it a huge challenge. This is even more true when it's possible there are survivors and time counts, so quick decisions are essential, they can't be waiting around for someone to figure out who is in charge to okay whatever needs to be done.
Although I don't disagree with the decision to turn back, I wonder if that decision says something about the CEO's level of confidence in the airline's COO.
The COO of Air India is a highly respected SIA pilot who is on secondment, formerly a SVP at Vistara. Every C-suite individual has defined roles during a crisis response, it's not just as simple as delegating the task to a subordinate. The CEO needs to be front and center as soon as possible, as the accountable manager to the authority.
When SQ6 crashed in Taipei, the SIA CEO was in New Zealand for a...
The COO of Air India is a highly respected SIA pilot who is on secondment, formerly a SVP at Vistara. Every C-suite individual has defined roles during a crisis response, it's not just as simple as delegating the task to a subordinate. The CEO needs to be front and center as soon as possible, as the accountable manager to the authority.
When SQ6 crashed in Taipei, the SIA CEO was in New Zealand for a meeting. He was airborne within a few hours of the accident in order to lead the response to the accident.
He had to divert and get back to India pronto, to avoid accusations of another CEO having fun in Paris while a crisis happens back home.
In the light of this tragedy, those diverted can only think , there but for the grace of god, go I. Praying for everyone.
I thought Ahmedabad sounds like a place in Afghanistan initialy but it’s in Gujurat an Indian state. Terrible. What the heck.
Tell me your are American without telling me you are one!
Hahahah. Exactly.
Instead of chuckling and ridiculing me because I was unfamiliar with the Milwaukee of India ;
How about your people do a better job with maintenance or abort takeoff when the plane tells you there is an issue ?
Dude...what is wrong with you?
In stead of acting like a load of children who are throwing their toys out of their prams at each other …. show some dignity.
Show some respect for the human beings who have lost their lives.
Show compassion for the friends and families who are suffering a great loss as a result of this tragedy.
Simply grow up!
Here, here !
Although the best part of this blog is the ' back n' forth ' of the comment section, I would have hoped for a little more compassion/respect for all involved in this tragedy as it relates to these specific posts.
Although I would never propose censorship, I just would have expected more sensitivity,
and this is from a typically cynical, snarky smart arse.....,,,
First off, it's "tell me you're American..." Not your. A supposedly educated person who corrects others should know that.
Secondly, how much do you know about the geography of the Americas? You probably think that the USA consists of New York, Florida, California and maybe Chicago in the middle. And that you can drive to them all within a few days.
As if someone not from South Asia would know where Ahmedabad was. Smug jerk.
stogieguy7, to whom are you addressing your rant?
Reply to AeroB13a; to SA, who decided to make an ad hoc attack on an innocent post.
I've been to 49 countries, including India, so I am by no means the typical American when it comes to international ignorance, and I too thought the same thing, so you aren't alone here.
I heard of Ahmedabad, heard of Gujurat, know that Modi is from there, but didn't know that Ahmedabad is in Gujurat. Is Milwaukee in Minnesota, hahaha? Gurjurat is poor and in or near where India tested nuclear weapons.
Ahmedabad is also a city in Pakistan.
When I heard this report on the news, my initial thought was of the Pakistani city - but I quickly recalled that Pakistani airspace is closed to India. And it's an AI flight on departure, so clearly in India. My guess was correct as to which part of India it's in - but I'm a geography geek who has also traveled a lot (5 continents - though not to India). Ridiculous to poke fun at...
When I heard this report on the news, my initial thought was of the Pakistani city - but I quickly recalled that Pakistani airspace is closed to India. And it's an AI flight on departure, so clearly in India. My guess was correct as to which part of India it's in - but I'm a geography geek who has also traveled a lot (5 continents - though not to India). Ridiculous to poke fun at someone if they don't know of this city. There are many large cities around the world that are not household names, internationally.
I know Gujarat. GT were IPL champions currently it is RCB. I know India and Pakistan have history so without checking the internet or clicking on the story it was a reasonable guess. I’m sorry . Today is a sad day.
In a time of such heartbreaking crisis, it’s completely understandable—and reassuring—to see the Chief return to the ground. Leadership and presence truly matter now more than ever.
This is true- sometimes the optics matter almost as much as anything else that a well-run business does to address a crisis. You need to look like you know what's going on and genuinely care about doing right by your customers.