AirAsia India receives a Rs 20 lakh fine from the aviation safety agency

The budget airline AirAsia India, which is owned by the Tata Group, was fined Rs 20 lakh on Saturday by the aviation safety regulator DGCA for breaking some rules pertaining to pilot training.

In addition to fining eight Designated Examiners (DEs) Rs. 3 lakh apiece, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) also ordered the removal of the airline's head of training from his job for a term of three months.

On January 23, PTI reported that AirAsia India may be subject to enforcement action from the safety authorities due to allegations that it violated aviation standards regarding pilot competency checks and instrument rating exams.

In more than a month, this is the third enforcement action taken against a Tata Group carrier.

In a statement, AirAsia India stated that it is evaluating the DGCA judgment and considering an appeal.

"We agree that the DGCA made a finding about pilot training exercises after inspecting the main base in November 2022. In conjunction with the DGCA, immediate corrective action was taken, and extra simulator training sessions were conducted to close the gap "In the statement, an AirAsia spokeswoman said.

Following a surveillance examination of the airline by the DGCA between November 23 and 25, 2013, and a subsequent show-cause notice to the airline, its head of training, and all DEs, the enforcement action was taken.

The International Civil Aviation Organization standard for the pilot proficiency check/instrument rating check was not followed by the pilots of Air Asia (India) Ltd. during the inspection, which resulted in a violation of DGCA regulations, the DGCA said in a statement.

The accountable manager, head of training, and all designated examiners of the airline received show-cause letters from the DGCA asking them to "explain why enforcement action should not be taken against them for lack of monitoring of their regulatory requirements.

Examining the responsible manager's, training director's, and all designated examiners' written responses...

AirAsia (India) Ltd has been fined Rs 20,00,000 for violating the relevant DGCA Civil Aviation Requirements (CARs), the statement said.

According to the statement, the DGCA also ordered the airline to "withdraw" its head of training from his job for a term of three months for failing to perform his duties in accordance with applicable DGCA CARs.

Eight Designated Examiners of AirAsia (India) have each been fined Rs. 3,000,000 for failing to carry out their responsibilities in accordance with the relevant DGCA Civil Aviation Requirements, the DGCA stated in the statement.

A spokeswoman for AirAsia claimed that the airline has already required pilots to participate in exercises as part of simulator training that went above and beyond the minimum regulatory training requirements.

"We would want to reaffirm that our operations are operating within the necessary safety limits. However, we are examining the DGCA judgement and are debating filing an appeal in accordance with the applicable regulatory procedures "Added AirAsia India.