DGCA imposes fine on Air India for operating flights with unqualified pilots; Company directors also penalized

NEW DELHI: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation imposed a fine of Rs 90 lakh on Air India for operating flights with unqualified pilots. Along with this, the operations director and training director of the company have been fined Rs 6 lakh and Rs 3 lakh respectively for the lapse. Pilots have also been instructed to be vigilant to avoid such incidents in the future. But no response has been received from Air India authorities in this regard.

The incident came to the attention of the authorities through a report voluntarily submitted by the company on the 10th of last month. An investigation was conducted following this. Officials say that many serious flaws have been found in it. A show cause notice was issued on 22nd of that month. The authorities also stated that the fine was imposed because the reply given to this was not satisfactory.

Recently, many complaints have been raised against Air India. Non-compliance with schedules and frequent cancellations of flights without warning led to further complaints. Lack of staff and technical failure were cited as reasons for this. With the frequent recurrence of such incidents, passengers have distanced themselves from Air India. Passengers now rely on private airlines for domestic travel.