172 workers at 56 airports found drunk on duty between Jan-July: DGCA

A total of 172 people working at 56 Indian airports were found drunk on duty between January and July this year, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) data has revealed. 

Fifty-eight per cent of the 172 workers who failed the mandatory alcohol tests were drivers, stated DGCA data, which has been reviewed by Business Standard. The others were station managers, aircraft technicians, loaders, push back operators, maintenance personnel, ramp supervisors, specialist bird scarers and aircraft rescue and firefighting services team, according to the data. 

While many of the workers who failed the alcohol tests were employed by airport operators, a significant section of them were employed by other companies — catering companies, ground handling companies, aircraft maintenance companies, etc — which work at the airport.

Eighty-two workers at 45 Airports Authority of India- (AAI)-run airports, 37 workers at two GMR group-run airports, 36 workers at seven Adani Group-run airports, 10 workers at CIAL-run Cochin airport and seven workers at Fairfax India-run Bengaluru airport failed the alcohol tests during the period, according to the DGCA data.

In comparison, in the January-July period of 2021 – when limited alcohol tests were conducted at airports due to pandemic-related regulations — only 34 people working at 26 airports failed the alcohol tests.

However, Bengaluru airport's operator BIAL gave a different set of data to Business Standard. It said only three personnel failed the alcohol tests during the aforementioned period in 2022. 

The AAI, the GMR Group and the Adani Group did not respond to Business Standard’s queries regarding this matter. Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL), wherein Kerala government holds the largest stake at around 32 per cent, also did not respond to queries by the newspaper.