Aircraft Delivery Delays for Akasa and Air India Due to US Seat Certification Bottleneck
Akasa Airways planned to expand its fleet to 35-40 aircraft by March but is stalled at 30 due to delayed aircraft seat certifications. Air India faces similar delays as US aviation regulators take up to 18 months to clear seat testing, impacting aircraft delivery schedules despite planes being ready.
Akasa Airways and Air India are experiencing significant delays in receiving new aircraft due to an extended regulatory process in the United States concerning seat certification. Although the aircraft themselves are ready for delivery, the seats installed on these planes have yet to be certified by US aviation regulators, a process that currently takes approximately a year and a half to complete. This certification delay has caused Akasa to remain at a fleet size of 30 instead of reaching its target of 35-40 by March. Air India is similarly affected by these delivery slowdowns. The certification involves rigorous testing and validation by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to ensure compliance with safety standards before the seats can be approved for installation and commercial use. This regulatory bottleneck has created a logjam in aircraft utilization and fleet expansion plans for these airlines.
