Tata Group-owned Air India faces a penalty of Rs 80 lakh imposed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)  for violation of regulations pertaining to Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) and fatigue management system (FMS) of flight crew. In a statement, DGCA said to ensure a high level of safety in aviation, it conducted a spot audit of Air India Limited in the month of January this year for verifying the regulatory compliance by the operator in respect of FDTL and FMS regulations. During the audit, it was found that Air India operated flight(s) in violation of Sub Rule (2) of Rule 28 A of the Aircraft Rules, 1937. 

“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 operator was also found deficient in providing adequate weekly rest, adequate rest before & after ultra-long range (ULR) flights and adequate rest on layover to flight crew, which violates the extant provisions of the Civil Aviation Requirements pertaining to FDTL. Moreover, the instances of exceeding duty periods, wrongly marked training records, overlapping duties, etc. were also observed during the audit,” DGCA said in its order.

DGCA said a show cause notice was issued to Air India March 1, 2024, for submitting its response. Aviation regulator observed that its response was not found satisfactory.