305 enforcement actions against airlines, individuals taken by DGCA in 2022

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has the mandate to enforce civil air regulations, air safety and airworthiness standards

Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) took 305 enforcement actions besides imposing financial penalties to the tune of Rs 1.97 crore against various airlines and others for non-compliance of various norms during 2022.

These enforcement actions were taken against various airlines, including scheduled as well as non-scheduled operators, airport operators and flying training organisations (FTOs) for failing to adhere to laid down safety standards and norms and compromising safety of aircraft operations, the DGCA said in a statement on Sunday.

Actions were also taken against erring pilots, cabin crew, Air Traffic Control Officers (ATCOs), Aircraft Maintenance Engineers (AME) and various post holders for non-compliance to laid down regulations and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

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The 305 enforcement actions taken by DGCA during the year included actions of flight crew and ATCOs leading to serious incidents and accidents, improper aircraft maintenance, inadequate airport facilities and failing to clear breath analyser tests by pilots, Cabin Crew, ATCOs and AMEs.

These also included lapses on part of various Flying Training Organisations to follow laid down SOPs and safety standards, the statement said.

According to DGCA, financial penalties were levied in 39 cases amounting to Rs 1.97 crore on various airlines, airport operators and FTOs.

This included penalty on Indigo for wrongfully offloading a differently abled person, on Air India for not paying compensation to passengers against denied boarding, on SpiceJet for using simulator with unserviceable warning system for training of pilots and on Vistara for non-compliance to Route Dispersal Guidelines.

Penalty was also imposed on five Non-Scheduled Operators for violation of SOPs or over logging of flying hours during Kedarnaath yatra operations.

The Airports Authority of India (AAI) was penalised for non-compliance of runway light requirements at Bhavnagar airport. Seventeen (17) organisations, including Go Air, were also penalised for non-adherence to laid down guidelines on breath analyser checks.