Air India Penalized for Regulatory Violations

In a significant move, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has imposed a hefty fine of Rs 30 lakh on Air India. The penalty comes as a result of the airline allowing a first officer to operate a flight without meeting the mandatory recency requirements.

According to the January 29 order by DGCA, the first officer operated a flight on July 7 without fulfilling the mandatory requirement of three take-offs and landings, leading to a violation of aviation rules. The rostering controllers were found to have overlooked multiple spurious alerts, further compounding the issue.

Action Against Responsible Officials

In response to the violation, Air India has been directed to take action against three senior rostering department officials and to inform the regulator about the measures taken within 15 days. The airline's comments on the matter were awaited at the time of reporting.

This incident follows a show cause notice issued to the heads of operations and rostering at Air India by DGCA on December 13. The replies provided by the airline were deemed unsatisfactory, leading to the imposition of the fine on January 29. Air India has been given 30 days to deposit the penalty amount.