AirAsia India Fined Rs 20 Lakh By DGCA For Violating Pilot Training Norms
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has imposed a penalty of Rs 20 lakh on Tata Group-owned budget carrier AirAsia India for violating some norms regarding pilots' training.
On Saturday, DGCA also ordered the removal of the airline's head of training for three months, besides imposing a fine of Rs 3 lakh each on eight Designated Examiners (DEs).
Third DGCA action against?AirAsia India?
AirAsia India allegedly violated aviation norms concerning pilot proficiency checks and instrument rating tests.
This is the third enforcement action against a Tata Group airline in over a month.
Will review and appeal:?AirAsia?
AirAsia India, in a statement, said it is reviewing the DGCA order and considering an appeal against it.
"We acknowledge that a finding related to training exercises of pilots was observed by the DGCA following the main base inspection in November 2022. Immediate corrective action was taken in coordination with DGCA and additional simulator training sessions to address the gap were implemented," an AirAsia spokesperson said in the statement.
Why was?AirAsia India fined?
The enforcement action came following a surveillance inspection conducted by the DGCA on the airline during November 23-25 last year and subsequent show cause notice to the airline, its head of training, and all DEs.
During the inspection, the?DGCA team observed that a few mandatory exercises of the pilots of Air Asia (India) Ltd were not done during pilot proficiency check/instrument rating check (which is an International Civil Aviation Organization requirement) as per schedule, resulting in violation of DGCA regulations, DGCA said in a statement.
DGCA issued show cause notices to the accountable manager, head of training and all designated examiners of the airline "as to why enforcement action should not be taken against them for lack of oversight of their regulatory obligations".
Withdraw head of training
"The written reply of accountable manager, head of training and all designated examiners were examined... Accordingly, a financial penalty of Rs 20,00,000 has been imposed on AirAsia (India) Ltd for violation of applicable DGCA Civil Aviation Requirements (CARs)," it said.
The DGCA has also directed the airline to "withdraw" its head of training from his position for a period of three months for failing to discharge his duties as per applicable DGCA CARs, as per the statement.
"Financial penalty of Rs 3,00,000 (has been imposed) each on eight Designated Examiners of AirAsia (India) for failing to discharge their duties as per applicable DGCA Civil Aviation Requirements," the DGCA said in the statement.
AirAsia spokesperson said the airline has already conducted mandatory exercises for the pilots as part of a simulator training done beyond the mandated regulatory training requirements.
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