New Delhi, June 21 (UNI) The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has asked Air India to remove three senior officials from all roles and responsibilities related to crew scheduling and rostering and for being involved in ‘serious and repeated lapses”.
The DGCA also directed initiation of internal disciplinary proceedings ‘without any delay’ and reporting the outcome within ten days.
A DGCA order said ‘repeated and serious violations’ voluntarily disclosed by Air India concerning flight crew being scheduled and operated despite lapses in licensing, rest and recency requirements were discovered during the post transition review from ARMS to the CAE flight and Crew Management System.
The voluntary disclosures point to ‘systemic failure’ 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.
It said the three officials have been involved in ‘serious and repeated lapses’ including unauthorised and non-compliant crew pairings, violatioṇ of mandatory licensing and recency norms and systemic failure in scheduling protocol and oversight.
The DGCA order said the three officials should be re-assigned to non-operational roles pending conclusion of corrective reforms in scheduling practices. They should also not hold any position involving direct influence over flight safety and crew compliance until further notice.
It said any future violation of crew scheduling norms, licensing or flight time limitations detected in any post-audit or inspection would attract ‘strict enforcement action’ including penalties, license suspension or withdrawal of operator permission.