DGCA Issues Four Show-Cause Notices to Air India Over Safety Violations

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has sent four "show-cause" warnings to Air India for multiple safety violations, including crew fatigue, lack of training, and not following safety rules. This is a serious move that brings attention to safety issues in aviation. These moves by regulators show that the Tata Group-owned airline is under more and more pressure to fix problems with the way it runs.

What caused the notices?

The warnings come after an internal review and reports from Air India, which said it had found 29 safety violations in the last two years. There were repeated worries in these four important areas, according to the DGCA:

Crew Fatigue Management: Situations in which flying crew went over the weekly rest limits set by the DGCA. This directly raises the chance that a tired pilot will make a trip unsafe.

Simulation Training Violations: Air India pilots went through simulator sessions but didn't fly during the training time, which defeats the purpose of being ready.

Lack of High-Altitude Training: It was said that flights to dangerous cities like Kathmandu were made without simulator training, which is required for these routes.

Not Enough Cabin Crew: International planes were run with less cabin crew than needed, which made them less safe in case of an emergency.

What the DGCA Said

The DGCA said that Air India had not set up strong processes for monitoring compliance, scheduling crew, and managing training, even though they had been told to do so and been audited before. It said that these mistakes are not isolated but show that the airline's safety mindset is not strong as a whole.

Not the First Red Flag

This is not a one-time thing. Nine "show-cause" letters have been sent to Air India in the last six months for five major violations. Some of these are forgetting to check emergency equipment, making bad job schedules, and not keeping track of training records.

The DGCA even tried to get important people fired from Air India's operations and scheduling offices earlier this month. Cameron Wilson, the CEO, was also given a separate notice for not responding to crew fatigue concerns.

What's Going to Happen?

The airline has been given a certain amount of time to react to the notices. If you don't give a good enough explanation, you could face more consequences, such as fines, the stopping of some operations, or the firing of leaders who are responsible.

The Bigger Picture

These changes happen after the crash of the AI-171 Ahmedabad, which killed more than 250 people. That event made people look more closely at how Air India does things internally and led to the DGCA's ongoing probe.

Air India is at a crossroads. The public and the regulator are putting more and more pressure on the company to change its internal processes and put safety first, or it could face harsher penalties.