Air India fined ₹80 lakh for violations of flight duty time limitations

“DGCA has imposed a financial penalty of Rs. 80,00,000 (Rupees eighty lakhs) to Air India Limited for violation of regulations pertaining to Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) and fatigue management system (FMS) of flight crew,” PTI quoted DGCA as saying.

The following decision by DGCA arrived after it conducted a spot audit of Air India in January, during which evidence was collected and fleet-wise random reports were analyzed.

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“… 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.

Apart from this, the DGCA also said there were instances of exceeding duty periods, wrongly marked training records, and overlapping duties.

The DGCA also issued a show cause notice on 1 March to Air India concerning 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 ₹80,00,000 has been imposed on the operator,” the release said.

Earlier on 16 March, the aviation regulator decided not to extend the June 1 deadline for implementing the revised flight duty norms for pilots and asked airlines to submit the revised schemes by 15 April.

In a communication to the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) – comprising Air India, SpiceJet and IndiGo – the DGCA said that airlines have to take all necessary steps to roll out the revised FDTL CAR, with effect from 1 June 2024.

The carriers have been asked to ensure that the FDTL schemes in tune with the revised norms are submitted for approval by 15 April.

Meanwhile, on 8 January, the FIA had written at least twice to the DGCA seeking more time for implementation of the revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms that were issued on 8 January.

With agency inputs. 

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Published: 22 Mar 2024, 05:36 PM IST