The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) of India has identified a total of 51 safety violations in Air India’s operations following an inspection. This audit was conducted independently of the Boeing 787 accident that occurred in Ahmedabad in June. However, the published results have increased criticism towards the airline.
As part of the audit, seven findings classified as “Level 1 Serious Violations” were required to be resolved by July 30. The remaining 44 non-compliances must be corrected by August 23. The report revealed that some pilots had received insufficient training, uncertified simulators were being used, and the scheduling of flight crews was ineffective.
Air India was also warned for reasons such as allowing aircraft to depart without checking emergency equipment, failing to replace engine parts on time, and falsifying certain documents. Inspectors particularly criticized the deficiencies of the system responsible for scheduling flight crews, stating that the system failed to issue warnings when flights were assigned with insufficient cabin crew. At least four international flights were operated with inadequate cabin crew, and on one flight, the crew’s duty time exceeded the legal limit by more than two hours.
Air India’s management stated that they approached the audit with “full transparency” and that they would present the necessary corrective action plans to the DGCA. Last year as well, the Air India Group was at the forefront of nearly half of the safety violations recorded by the DGCA.
