DGCA fines Air India Rs 1.1 crore for violating safety norms

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has imposed a fine of Rs 1.10 crore on Air India for non-compliance of safety norms.

While imposing the fine, the DGCA said that following a complaint by an airline employee, it conducted a “comprehensive investigation” into the alleged safety violations by Air India on “some important long-haul 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 having regard to the conditions prescribed under the relevant statutory provisions and the performance limits prescribed in the key documents maintained by the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM).

Saying the operations were not in line with regulatory performance limits, the DGCA imposed fines and initiated “enforcement action”.

This comes a week after DGCA imposed a fine of Rs 30 lakh on Air India in connection with rostering of pilots during the onset of fog season.

SpiceJet was also fined Rs 30 lakh for the same reason.

The fine was imposed on failure to follow instructions issued as per the minutes of the meeting on low visibility operations and fog preparedness on November 6, 2023. Earlier, the aviation regulator had issued show cause notices to airlines for rostering. Several diversions were made to Delhi bound flights due to “non-CAT III compliant pilots” during low visibility at Delhi airport.

The DGCA, after analyzing the data related to flight delays/cancellations/diversions submitted by scheduled airlines for December 2023, found that Air India and SpiceJet have “restricted the availability of CAT II/III and LVTO qualified pilots for certain flights,” an official said. Not appointed”. ,

Also in November last year, the aviation watchdog had imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh on Air India for failure to comply with norms related to facilities provided to passengers.

After inspecting the airlines at Delhi, Kochi and Bengaluru airports, the regulator found that Air India was not complying with the relevant Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) provisions.