New Delhi, June 21, 2025 — The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued a strong directive to Air India, ordering the immediate removal of three senior officials responsible for crew scheduling and rostering, citing systemic failures and serious violations of regulatory norms, especially related to crew rest and licensing requirements.

The officials include a Divisional Vice President in charge of the Integrated Operations Control Centre (IOCC) — considered the nerve centre of the airline’s operations — and two others with oversight on flight crew management. These personnel, DGCA has mandated, must face internal disciplinary proceedings without delay.

The move follows DGCA’s detailed review of Air India’s crew scheduling practices, especially during and after the airline’s transition to a new rostering software implemented in May 2024. The regulator found that the software change triggered multiple oversights that resulted in crew being scheduled for flights without meeting licensing, rest, and recency standards — a direct breach of safety norms.

🧾 What Did DGCA Find?

The DGCA order — a copy of which was reviewed by The Hindu — clearly states that the violations involved crew being deployed despite lapses in:

• Licensing validation

• Mandatory rest periods

• Recency checks (a regulatory requirement that pilots and cabin crew operate a certain number of flights in a defined timeframe to remain current)

The violations, though voluntarily disclosed by Air India, were of such magnitude that the DGCA warned that future non-compliance would invite stricter penalties, including licence suspensions and operational restrictions.

🔁 Role of IOCC Under Scrutiny

At the centre of this administrative shake-up is Air India’s Integrated Operations Control Centre (IOCC), which falls under the Flight Operations Division and is tasked with managing real-time flight operations, logistics, crew scheduling, and crisis response. The IOCC's role is crucial in maintaining flight safety, legal compliance, and efficiency.

One of the three removed officials is the Divisional Vice President of the IOCC, indicating the regulator’s concern over top-level accountability in operational oversight.

“The IOCC is where minute-by-minute crew deployments are planned and monitored. A lapse at this level can ripple across the airline’s safety ecosystem,” a senior DGCA official told The Hindu.

✈️ Duty Hour Violations Triggered Showcause Notice

Apart from the order for removal and disciplinary action, the DGCA has also issued a showcause notice to Air India for crew duty time violations on specific international routes.

On May 16 and 17, during Bengaluru to London flights, the crew operated beyond the permissible 10-hour flight duty limit, violating Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) laid out by Indian aviation law and ICAO safety standards.

These duty breaches, compounded with improper roster assignments, expose Air India to serious regulatory action, especially at a time when the airline is under intense scrutiny following the recent Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crash last week.

💬 Air India Responds

In a brief official statement, an Air India spokesperson acknowledged the DGCA directive:

“We acknowledge the regulator’s directive and have implemented the order. In the interim, the company’s Chief Operations Officer will provide direct oversight to the Integrated Operations Control Centre (IOCC). Air India is committed to ensuring that there is total adherence to safety protocols and standard practices.”

The airline reiterated that it had voluntarily disclosed the crew scheduling violations during a routine internal audit of its software migration project, but the regulator has made it clear that transparency doesn’t absolve accountability.

🧠 Software Transition at Core of Errors?

It is learnt that the scheduling errors were uncovered during a post-implementation review of the crew management software Air India switched to last year. While the new system is meant to automate and improve compliance tracking, the data integration between old and new systems reportedly created blind spots, causing undetected errors in pilot rest tracking and licence validations.

Insiders say that though the new software system was technically sound, the transition was poorly managed, with inadequate staff training, manual overrides, and relaxed oversight, particularly during peak operations.

📉 Operational Consequences Looming

In its warning, DGCA has made it explicit that any future violations of rest rules or licensing compliance may result in:

• Suspension of airline operating permits

• Revocation of specific route permissions

• Flight slot curtailments at congested airports

These are serious consequences, especially for an airline like Air India which is:

• Managing an expanding international fleet

• Undergoing post-privatisation restructuring under the Tata Group

• Navigating regulatory challenges linked to recent aircraft incidents

📌 Context: Recent Dreamliner Crash Heightens Stakes

This regulatory action comes less than a week after the crash of an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner near Frankfurt, which killed four passengers and injured over a dozen. Though the investigation is ongoing, aviation regulators worldwide are closely watching Air India's compliance culture and operational practices.

The DGCA’s current directive signals that even internal lapses with no immediate damage will not be tolerated, especially when they point to systemic flaws.

🧾 Past Precedents: DGCA and Crew Duty Violations

DGCA has earlier penalised multiple carriers — both Indian and foreign — for violating Flight Duty Time Limitations, which are central to ensuring pilot fatigue management, one of the key pillars of flight safety.

In 2022 and 2023, IndiGo, SpiceJet, and a few charter operators were also pulled up for misreporting crew duty hours or bypassing mandatory rest cycles, resulting in financial penalties and mandatory safety audits.

⚖️ Disciplinary Action Expected Soon

According to Air India insiders, the airline will soon initiate formal show cause notices to the three officials named in the DGCA order. The disciplinary process may involve:

• Departmental inquiries

• Temporary suspension

• Role reassignment

• Or in extreme cases, termination of employment

This is part of Air India's effort to show that it takes regulatory breaches seriously and is committed to upholding its safety standards in alignment with global aviation benchmarks.

✅ Conclusion: A Wake-Up Call for India’s Flag Carrier

The DGCA's stern action serves as a wake-up call for Air India — an airline in transformation, but now forced to confront old cultural lapses in a new operational framework.

While the airline has acknowledged and complied with the regulator's instructions, it must now ensure that its internal checks, digital systems, and human resources are better aligned with the demands of modern aviation safety norms.

With Air India seeking to compete globally and expand aggressively, its ability to quickly correct course in matters of compliance and crew management will be critical to regaining passenger trust and regulatory confidence.

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