AI 171 is now ‘AI 159’: Among flyers, man who had to defer June 12 trip to tend to sick mom

 AI 171 is now ‘AI 159’: Among flyers, man who had to defer June 12 trip to tend to sick mom 

Ahmedabad :17.06.2025

First flights are all about nervous excitement, but this one was always going to be different. AI 159 from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick – the first on that route since the June 12 Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crash – took off Monday on the sombre wings of remembrance and prayer, ferrying at least one passenger who might have been on the crashed aircraft four days earlier had his mother not taken ill suddenly.

Jayesh Ramji was approaching Gate 4 of Terminal 2, a hand tightly clasping his cabin bag, when his mind raced back through the surreal last few days of his trip to India. “I was to return on AI 171. I postponed my travel to June 16 because my mother was unwell. All I want is to get back home safe,” said the 34-year-old London shop assistant with roots in Diu. His wasn’t the only face betraying more than a trace of emotion ahead of renumbered flight AI 159’s 4.30pm departure, over three hours later than scheduled. 

The terminal was seemingly quieter than usual, with families clinging a little tighter, and goodbyes lasting a tad longer. Raas Mishra, 28, had just said goodbye to his tearyeyed parents. “They were scared. I am a tad nervous, too, but I have flown Air India before. I trust their pilots,” said the young man, employed with a logistics firm in London.

For 72-year-old Kokila Patel of Patan, the announcement of a delay – the Dreamliner was to take off at 1.10pm – added to what she described as “emotional exhaustion”. She was scheduled to fly out on June 14, but the flight was cancelled after the crash two days earlier. “My son said I should book another airline. But I had already confirmed my travel on June 16 with Air India by then,” she said. “I trust God and the airline. I want to go back, not stay scared forever.”