NEW DELHI: Aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has ordered the removal of three top personnel of Air India in the Flight Operations department from all roles related to crew scheduling and rostering in light of serious and repeated lapses committed by them. It also chastened Air India for not taking any strict action against them. The airline said it has complied with the regulator’s order.
An official release from DGCA listed these officials as directly responsible for continued non-compliance with rules – Choorah Singh, Divisional Vice President, Pinky Mittal, Chief Manager, Daily Operations, Crew Scheduling and Payal Arora, Crew Scheduling, Planning.
The order by Himanshu Srivastava, Assistant Director of Operations, Flight Standards Directorate, DGCA, on June 20 to the Accountable Manager of Air India Limited, said, “These officials have been involved in serious and repeated lapses including but not limited to unauthorised and non-compliance crew pairings, violation of mandatory licensing and recency normal and systemic failure in scheduling protocol and oversight. “
The order added that these repeated and serious violations were voluntarily disclosed by Air India concerning its flight crew. “The voluntary disclosure, while noted, points to systemic failures in crew scheduling, compliance monitoring and internal accountability. Of particular concern is the absence of strict disciplinary measures against key officials directly responsible for these operational lapses,” it said.
The four-point directive issued to the airline states, “Air India is directed to remove the above-mentioned officials from all roles and responsibilities related to crew scheduling and rostering. Internal proceedings must be initiated against these officials without delay and the outcome of such proceedings shall be reported to this office within 10 days from the date of issue for the letter.”
The order said the officials need to be re-assigned to non-operational roles until corrective reforms are initiated in scheduling practices. “They shall not hold any position involving direct influence over flight safety and crew compliance until further notice,” it said.
The order also warned Air India that any future violation of crew scheduling norms, licensing or flight time limitations detected in any post-audit or inspection will attract strict enforcement actions. Penalties, licence suspension of withdrawal of operator permissions could also be taken against the airline, it added.
An Air India spokesperson said in a statement on Saturday (June 21),“We acknowledge the regulator’s directive and have implemented the order. In the interim, the company's Chief Operations Officer will provide direct oversight to the Integrated Operations Control Centre (IOCC). Air India is committed to ensuring that there is total adherence to safety protocols and standard practices.”
