NEW DELHI: Aviation watchdog, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has recently issued a stern warning to Air India CEO and Accountable Manager Campbell Wilson for the “unsatisfactory” explanation given by the airline for misusing the exemption provided to it on pilot duty hours.
The relaxation for the duty hours of the cockpit crew were given to the airline by the end of April 2025 for a limited period after Pakistan closed its airspace, said an official source.
The DGCA letter to the airline on August 11 said, “The Accountable Manager of M/s Air India Ltd, is hereby warned and advised to exercise utmost diligence and responsibility in ensuring strict compliance with the applicable Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR).”
The issue pertains to two flights along the same route, Bengaluru to London (AI 133), on two consecutive days, May 16 and 17. The maximum duty limit of 10 hours for the pilots under the standard CAR was exceeded in both of them, revealed a spot check. The exemptions were only for flights that traversed the Pakistani airspace and not other international flights. The cockpit crew had been reduced to two from three too in these flights.
DGCA had already issued a show cause notice to them in connection with these flights on June 20 and sought an explanation why action should not be taken for breaching flight duty time limitations (FDTL).
An Air India spokesperson said in a statement, “Air India is in receipt of the DGCA letter with regard to rostering issues on two long- haul flights reported in mid-May that arose due to a different interpretation of a permission that was granted to mitigate the border related airspace closure. This was corrected immediately after the right interpretation was conveyed to us. Air India remains fully compliant with the rules."