DGCA imposes Rs 30 lakh penalty on Air India for regulatory norms violation

Aviation safety regulator DGCA has imposed a penalty of Rs 30 lakh on Tata Group-owned Air India for allegedly allowing one of its pilots to operate a flight without complying with certain regulatory requirements.

The DGCA in order of January 29 also said that it has found "recurrent rostering issues...," about the airline.

The order to slap penalty came after the response of a show-cause notice to Air India's head of operations and head of rostering, among other executives, on December 13, 2024 was found "unsatisfactory."  The pilot "operated a flight on 7th July despite not having the mandatory recency requirement of 3 take off and landings, leading to violation of para 3 of civil aviation requirement," the regulator said in its order.

Air India did not respond to a PTI query on this issue.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in its order also said that "the (rostering) controllers (at Air India) overlooked the multiple spurious alerts reflecting on CAE window, as per the submission made by M/s Air India Limited."  "Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred under Rule 162 of the Aircraft Rules, 1937 ... (DGCA) hereby imposes a penalty of Rs 30,00,000...," as per the order.