The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday fined Air India Rs 80 lakh for breaches of flight duty and fatigue management regulations, including inadequate rest provision for flight crew before and after ultra-long haul flights. This marks at least the third instance in less than two months where the Tata Group-owned Air India has been penalised by the DGCA.
The latest penalty coincides with the DGCA’s decision not to extend the June 1 deadline for implementing revised flight duty norms to offer pilots more rest hours. In January, the regulatory body conducted a spot audit of Air India to assess the airline’s compliance with Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) and Fatigue Management System (FMS) regulations. The audit involved the collection of evidence and analysis of random reports across the fleet.
“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 regulator said in a release.
“…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,” DGCA added.
Typically, ultra-long-haul flights are those lasting over 16 hours. Air India operates such flights to destinations in Canada and the US. Additionally, the DGCA stated on Friday that there were occurrences of duty period exceedances, inaccurately marked training records and overlapping duties. On March 1, the regulatory body issued a show cause notice to Air India regarding these 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.
The presence of both cockpit crew members or pilots aged above 60 years on a flight violates Rule (2) of Rule 28 A of the Aircraft Rules, 1937.
“No person holding a pilot’s licence issued under these rules and having attained the age of sixty years shall act as Pilot-in-Command or Co-pilot of an aircraft engaged in commercial air transport operations unless it is operated in a multi-crew environment and the other pilot is less than sixty years of age,” as per the rule.
Earlier this month, the DGCA decided not to extend the June 1 deadline for implementing the revised flight duty norms for pilots. The Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), which includes Air India, SpiceJet, and IndiGo, had twice written to the regulator requesting more time to implement the revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms issued on January 8. These new norms, scheduled to take effect from June 1, aim to provide adequate rest time for pilots and mitigate pilot fatigue.
In a recent communication to the FIA, the DGCA reiterated that airlines must take all necessary measures to implement the revised FDTL CAR starting from June 1, 2024.
“The CAR (Civil Aviation Requirement) provisions may appear either restrictive or liberal, depending on its direct impact on the viewing entity, and differing perceptions may be formed when viewed from the eyes of either the airline operators or the pilots,” the DGCA had said.
“While perceptions may vary, DGCA is primarily concerned in ensuring safe operations and practices that are best suited to the unique operating environment prevailing in India,” it added..
Within a span of less than two months, the DGCA has levied fines on Air India on three occasions, including the most recent action. On February 29, the DGCA imposed a fine of Rs 30 lakh on Air India following an incident in which an 80-year-old passenger collapsed and subsequently passed away after walking from the plane to the terminal at the Mumbai airport due to the unavailability of a wheelchair. Prior to this, on January 24, the DGCA fined Air India Rs 1.10 crore for safety violations related to the operations of its leased Boeing 777 aircraft to the US.
Furthermore, on January 17, the regulatory body fined both Air India and SpiceJet Rs 30 lakh each for deficiencies in rostering pilots to operate flights during low visibility conditions.