The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has postponed the plan to con- duct the audit at Air India headquarters for a week in the wake of the Middle-East crisis, according to sources in the know of the development. A 10-member DGCA team was all set to begin the audit at the Air India headquarters from June 24 to 26. It would cover operations, flight planning, scheduling, rostering, Integrated Operations Control Centre (IOCC).
The tension between Iran and Israel escalated on Monday night after latter targeted the US camp in Qatar. Following the tensions escalating in the Middle-East, Air India has cancelled several of its flights. Sources said the decision was taken by the DGCA as many of the airline officials were busy in handling the situation.
The Air India in a statement said it has cancelled several of its international flights in wake of the escalating tension in Middle East region. Source said that the DGCA will soon commence the audit when the situation returns to normal.
The Air India has been facing scrutiny from the DGCA following a tragic aircraft involving its AI171 Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner on June 12 in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad killing more than 270 people, including 241 out of 242 people on board.
On June 19, the DGCA ordered the immediate removal of three senior Air India officials, including a divisional vice president, from all responsibilities related to flight crew scheduling and rostering The Air India has been assisting the DGCA, AAIB, and the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) in their probe to ascertain the cause of crash of its London Gatwick flight. The government had already ordered a probe and the AAIB, DGCA and MoCA are investigating the reasons for the crash.
