Air India crew scheduling violations lead to regulator-imposed sanctions

India’s civil aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), has taken immediate action against the national carrier Air India by imposing sanctions against three executives in the airline’s crew scheduling department. The move follows the finding of what the DGCA termed as “repeated and serious violations of crew safety regulations.”

As a result of the discovery of the safety breaches, the airline has been ordered to remove three senior officials from its crew scheduling department as a direct result of their direct involvement in the violations. This punitive action marks a significant response from the DGCA in its efforts to enforce strict safety standards across the Indian aviation industry and comes less than two weeks after the loss of AI1171 in Ahmedabad, in which 270 people died. 

The DGCA’s intervention resulted from Air India voluntarily reporting violations involving the scheduling of flight crew in contravention of established licensing, flight duty time, and rest period regulations. These regulations, seen as a cornerstone of international aviation regulation and safety, have as their primary role to prevent fatigue-related incidents/accidents and ensure that crew members are fit for duty at all times while tasked to fly commercial aircraft.

Abdul N Quraishi – Abs / ShutterstockThe investigation into Air India’s crew rostering practices came after a new flight and crew management system had been implemented and revealed several violations, most notably in the crewing of the carrier’s long-haul flights. In particular, the scheduling of flight crews on two consecutive flights between Bengaluru and London exceeded the legally mandated flight duty hours and violated the established safety protocols.

It has emerged that the DGCA issued a ‘show cause’ notice to Air India’s Accountable Manager following a spot check of two specific flights, identified as Al133 between Bengaluru (BLR) and London Heathrow (LHR), on May 16 and May 17, 2025. Both flights were found to have exceeded the safety limit of ten hours for flight time, an infringement that could potentially impact the safety of passengers.

Removal of officials

As part of the sanctions against the carrier, the DGCA has demanded the removal of Choorah Singh, the Divisional Vice President, Pinky Mittal, the Chief Manager of DOPS Crew Scheduling, and Payal Arora, who held a key position in Crew Scheduling Planning. The airline has been directed to commence immediate disciplinary action against these officials. These individuals are alleged to have been directly linked to the safety breaches. According to the DGCA, the violations stemmed from “the poor management of crew scheduling, causing repeated breaches of vital safety protocols.”

In addition to the removal of the three key personnel, the DGCA also stipulated that the officials under investigation must be reassigned to non-operational roles. They are also barred from holding any positions that could influence flight safety or crew compliance until the outcomes of the internal proceedings are reported back to the regulator, which has to be submitted within 10 days of the order.

Media_works / ShutterstockThe DGCA’s letter, issued on June 20, 2025, also highlighted the body’s stringent stance on ensuring compliance. Any future violations related to flight crew scheduling, licensing, or duty time limitations, whether discovered in audits or routine inspections, will result in severe enforcement actions. These could include penalties, the suspension of licenses, or even the withdrawal of Air India’s operating permits if violations continue.

In response to the DGCA’s directive, Air India said that it has acknowledged the issues and has taken the immediate steps sanctioned by the DGCA to address the violations. Air India also assured that it remains committed to adhering to safety protocols and maintaining standard operational practices across its fleet.

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