Akasa Air faces DGCA heat for lapses; warning letter issued to airline's accountable manager

Mumbai: Aviation watchdog DGCA has issued a warning letter to Akasa Air's accountable manager Vinay Dube, who is also its founder and CEO, for regulatory lapses, days after the airline was warned for violating norms related to handling dangerous goods.

Sources on Tuesday told PTI that the regulator has warned the airline's Accountable Manager to be careful to avoid non-compliance, citing two specific incidents related to a hard landing of aircraft and non-revision of the operations manual within the prescribed time frame.

There was no immediate comment from Akasa Air.

In a not-so-common development, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has now issued two warning letters to Akasa Air in less than a week. This is in addition to actions against the little over two-year-old airline for various non-compliances, including a six-month suspension of the carrier's head of operations and head of training for alleged lapses in pilot training.

As per the DGCA website, the accountable manager of SNV Aviation Pvt Ltd -- which operates flights under the brand Akasa Air -- is Vinay Dube.

In the warning letter, dated January 13, the regulator has also cited the suspension of the airline's head of operations and head of training besides the two incidents. The two senior executives were suspended under the directions of DGCA.

For the hard landing incident that happened in March 2024, which came to the notice of DGCA during an inspection in October 2024, the regulator relieved the pilot concerned from training. This particular order was issued last month.

A show cause notice was issued, last month, with respect to the non-revision of the operations manual.

Meanwhile, on January 9, DGCA issued a warning letter to Akasa Air after lapses were detected in the handling of lithium batteries during an inspection conducted on December 12 in Ahmedabad.

During the surveillance inspection, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) came across "significant non-compliances" by the airline, including accepting electronic devices containing lithium batteries without checking or verification of battery power, they said.

Among other lapses, the sources said the airline was found to be accepting shipments of lithium batteries having weight more than the permissible limits for carriage in passenger aircraft.

The sources said the airline took corrective steps after the regulator flagged the lapses by issuing circulars to cargo agents and staff as well as by issuing caution letters to the cargo acceptance staff.

Considering the corrective actions taken and the gravity of the non-compliances, DGCA has warned Akasa Air to be more vigilant with respect to compliances for the carriage of dangerous goods by air and ensure violations do not happen in the future, sources said.

Also, sources said the regulator has asked Akasa Air to carry out internal audits at all its cargo acceptance and handling facilities in respect of compliances within 30 days of receiving the warning letter.

In October 2024, DGCA imposed a penalty of Rs 10 lakh on Akasa Air for failing to provide timely compensation to some passengers who were denied boarding at Bangalore Airport in September.