DGCA penalises Air India for operating a flight with non-qualified crew members
In addition to this, penalties of Rs 6 lakh and Rs 3 lakh were imposed on the director of operations and the director of training at Air India, respectively.
In addition to this, penalties of Rs 6 lakh and Rs 3 lakh were imposed on the director of operations and the director of training at Air India, respectively.
Notably, Air India’s Delhi-San Francisco flight was delayed for more than 20 hours due to a technical issue with the aircraft. AI 183, which was to depart from Delhi at 1530 IST on May 30, has been rescheduled and will now take off at 1500 IST on May 31.
Notably, it is the slowest Y-o-Y growth in domestic air passenger traffic in at least 13 months.
Sources said the senior employees, including the cabin crew, are unhappy with the changes.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Wednesday imposed a penalty of Rs 1.10 crore on Air India for violation of safety norms leading to a series of flight irregularities.
The decision took place in response to an incident that happened on May 1 in which a flight from Mumbai to Durgapur encountered severe turbulence during landing. The severe turbulence had caused injuries to nearly 14 passengers along with three crew members.
"It has come to the notice of this office that various airlines are denying boarding to passengers holding confirmed tickets on a flight, although they have presented themselves for boarding within the time specified by the airline. This practice is extremely unfair to the passengers and brings a bad name to the aviation industry,"
The DGCA DG has advised the team to thoroughly examine cabins, cockpits, and the passenger area of aircrafts to check for potential safety issues including loose fittings on aircraft seats, food trays, windows, and lavatories.
“The safety violations that have been flagged are not too serious in nature or something that indicates gross violations and poses a massive risk to flight safety. The concerns flagged by the DGCA have been noted and we have appealed against the decision. Presently, we cannot divulge much detail on the matter and are awaiting a response.”
Currently, SpiceJet is reportedly the only Indian airline to have 737Max in its fleet. The airline has announced that following the DGCA clearance, their fleet of 737 Max will soon be flying again.
