DGCA slaps Rs 80 lakh fine on Air India over violations of norms

New Delhi: Aviation watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday imposed a fine of Rs 80 lakh on Air India for violations of norms related to flight duty time limitations and fatigue management system of flight crew.

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The decision came after DGCA conducted a spot audit of Air India in January, during which evidence was collected and fleet-wise random reports were analysed.

"The analysis of reports and evidence revealed that Air India Limited operated flight(s) with both flight crew aged above 60 years flying together in a few instances.

"... the operator was also found deficient in providing adequate weekly rest, adequate rest before & after ultra-long range flights and adequate rest on layover to the flight crew, which violates the extant provisions of the Civil Aviation Requirements pertaining to FDTL," the regulator said in a release.

Further, the DGCA said there were instances of exceeding duty periods, wrongly marked training records and overlapping duties.

On March 1, the regulator issued a show cause notice to Air India with respect to the violations.

"The operator submitted its response to the show cause notice, which was not found satisfactory. Pursuant to the non-satisfactory response submitted by the operator, a fine of Rs 80,00,000 has been imposed on the operator," the release said.

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