Air India fined Rs 80 lakh for violation of flight duty time limitations, fatigue management system of crew

Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday imposed a financial penalty of Rs. 80,00,000 to Air India Limited for violation of regulations pertaining to Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) and fatigue management system (FMS) of flight crew. The violations came to surface after the watchdog, Directorate general of Civil Aviation (DGCA), conducted spot audit of Air India in the month of January. A show cause notice was sent to Air India by the watchdog on March 1.

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

"Pursuant to the non-satisfactory response submitted by operator, a fine of Rs 80, 00, 000 (rupees eighty lakhs) have been imposed on the operator," the regulator stated in a statement.

"The analysis of reports and evidence revealed that M/s Air India Limited operated flight(s) with both flight crew aged above 60 years flying together in few instances, which is a violation of Sub Rule (2) of Rule 28 A of the Aircraft Rules, 1937," the watchdog stated.

The audit also found instances of duty hours being exceeded, training records being incorrectly recorded, tasks overlapping, and so on. The government agency stated that it is "committed to maintaining the highest levels of safety in the civil aviation sector in India and this enforcement action is in line with its commitment" .

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”.

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