India’s civil aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), asked Air India to immediately take disciplinary action against three top officials for ‘serious and repeated transgressions’ involving flight crew rostering and safety compliance.
The June 20 order followed the voluntary report by the airline of several cases in which crew members were to fly without meeting required licensing, rest, and recency mandates. The violations were revealed during the transition from the ARMS (Aviation Resource Management System) to the CAE Flight and Crew Management System, which is applied for crew monitoring and planning.
“The voluntary disclosures, though reported, reflect systemic shortcomings in crew scheduling, compliance monitoring, and internal accountability. Of concern is the lack of stringent disciplinary action against principal officials directly responsible for these operational failures,” the DGCA order said.
3 Officials Accounted for the Crash
The three Air India executives who were directly found guilty of the violations were Choorah Singh, P.V.P. Divisional Vice President; Pinky Mittal, Chief Manager, Directorate of Operations, Crew Scheduling; and Payal Arora, Crew Scheduling and Planning. These executives were held responsible for non-compliant and unauthorized crew pairings, violations of licensing and recency requirements, and scheduling oversight failures.
The DGCA has asked Air India to remove these officials immediately from any position having crew scheduling or rostering responsibilities. It also ordered the airline to take internal disciplinary action at the earliest. “Internal disciplinary proceedings are to be initiated against these officials at the earliest, and the result of such proceedings shall be submitted to this office within 10 days from the date of issue of this letter,” the order stated.
Until corrective reforms are implemented, the three men are to be transferred to non-operational functions and excluded from any role that may affect flight safety or crew adherence.
Air India Reacts to Regulator’s Order
Following the DGCA’s directive, Air India said, “We accept the directive given by the regulator and have followed the order. In the meantime, the Chief Operations Officer of the company will directly monitor the Integrated Operations Control Centre (IOCC).”
Reiterating its commitment to safety, the airline further said, “Air India is dedicated to ensuring there is complete compliance with safety procedures and standard practices.”
The move follows the increased scrutiny of Air India, days after a disastrous crash of an Ahmedabad-to-Gatwick flight that killed 241 passengers. While the DGCA order itself does not explicitly connect the breaches of schedule with the crash, the timing has heightened attention to the operational standards and the oversight of regulators.
