Another Heavy Fine Slapped On Air India For Violating Flight Duty Time Limitations

New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has imposed a fine of Rs 80 lakh on Air India for violation of regulations pertaining to Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) and fatigue management system (FMS) of flight crew.

To ensure aviation safety standards, DGCA conducted a spot audit of Air India Limited in January to verify the operator’s adherence to FDTL and FMS regulations. It was found that the Tata Group-owned airline operated flight(s) in violation of Sub Rule (2) of Rule 28 A of the Aircraft Rules, 1937.

“The analysis of reports and evidence revealed that M/s Air India Limited operated flight(s) with both flight crew aged above 60 years flying together in few instances, which is a violation of Sub Rule (2) of Rule 28 A of the Aircraft Rules, 1937. The operator was also found deficient in providing adequate weekly rest, adequate rest before & after ultra-long range (ULR) flights and adequate rest on layover to flight crew, which violates the extant provisions of the Civil Aviation Requirements pertaining to FDTL. Moreover, the instances of exceeding duty periods, wrongly marked training records, overlapping duties, etc. were also observed during the audit,” DGCA said in its order.

In January, DGCA imposed a fine of Rs 1.10 crore on Air India for safety violations on certain “long-range terrain critical routes” and revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms for flight crew, entailing increased weekly rest periods to 48 hours, extension of night hours, and limiting the number of night landings to only two as against six earlier.

DGCA said the revised FDTL regulations have been formulated after extensive data analysis and feedback from various stakeholders, including airline operators, pilot associations and individuals.

In a communication to the The Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), DGCA said that the airlines have to take all necessary steps to roll out the revised FDTL CAR, with effect from June 1, 2024.

FIA, comprising Air India, SpiceJet and IndiGo, had written twice to the regulator seeking more time for implementation the revised FDTL norms issued on January 8.