Aviation Regulator Slaps Rs 80 Lakh Penalty On Air India For Violating Norms

Aviation watchdog DGCA on Friday imposed a fine of Rs 80 lakh on Air India for violations of norms related to flight duty time limitations and fatigue management system of flight crew.

The judgment was made following a spot audit of Air India by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in January, which involved the collection of evidence and the analysis of random reports broken down by fleet

“The analysis of reports and evidence revealed that Air India Limited operated flight(s) with both flight crew aged above 60 years flying together in a few instances. “… the operator was also found deficient in providing adequate weekly rest, adequate rest before and after ultra-long range flights and adequate rest on layover to the flight crew, which violates the extant provisions of the Civil Aviation Requirements about FDTL,” the regulator said in its release.

Further, the DGCA said there were instances of exceeding duty periods, wrongly marked training records, and overlapping duties. On March 1, the regulator issued a show cause notice to Air India concerning the violations.

“The operator submitted its response to the show cause notice, which was unsatisfactory. Under the non-satisfactory response submitted by the operator, a fine of Rs 80,00,000 has been imposed on the operator,” the release said.

Earlier, the directorate imposed a penalty of Rs 1.10 crore on Air India for non-compliance of safety norms.

Imposing the fine, DGCA said that following a complaint from an airline employee, it conducted a “comprehensive investigation” into the alleged safety violations by Air India on “certain long-range terrain critical routes”.

The aviation regulator said, “Since the investigation prima facie revealed non-compliance by the airline, a Show Cause Notice was issued to the Accountable Manager of Air India Limited. The response to the Show Cause Notice was duly examined with respect to the laid down stipulations under the relevant statutory provisions and the performance limits stipulated in critical documentations laid down by the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM).”

(with inputs from Nikhil Lakhwani)