Aviation regulator DGCA has suspended two pilots of Tata Group's Taj Air, a non-scheduled airline that flies Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata and Chairman Cyrus Mistry among others, for allegedly falsifying medical records.
Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu said appropriate action would be taken in case anything is 'found wanting'.
189 people working at 59 Indian airports were found drunk on duty in the first half of this year, marking a 32 per cent year-on-year increase.
In a rare move, the DGCA has filed a police complaint against 34 pilots of Jet Airways, IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir.
80-year-old passenger collapsed and later died after walking from plane to terminal at the Mumbai airport after not getting a wheelchair.
Facing disruptions due to non-availability of crew, Vistara on Sunday announced reducing 10 per cent of its capacity or 25-30 flights daily and most of the cancellations are in the domestic network as the Tata Group airline strives to stabilise operations. The full-service carrier is to operate over 300 flights daily in the ongoing summer schedule and witnessed significant disruptions earlier this week as many pilots reported sick, resulting in cancellations of flights. "We are carefully scaling back our operations by around 25-30 flights per day, i.e. roughly 10 per cent of the capacity we were operating.
The routes, for which ticket pricing information has been sought, include those connecting Jammu and Kashmir, Leh and Port Blair.
The on-time performance (OTP) of Indian carriers took a major dip in January as dense fog foiled their flight schedules. According to data from the Ministry of Civil Aviation reviewed by Business Standard, five out of six major Indian carriers - IndiGo, Air India, AIX Connect, Akasa Air, and Vistara - recorded their lowest OTPs in at least the last 11 months. In response to queries, an Air India spokesperson said that during this winter, northern India experienced unusually prolonged periods of dense fog affecting traffic at the airline's two largest hubs -- Delhi and Mumbai.
The airlines in their representation had said that pilots had to be spared for the renewal procedure, which took a lot of time.
The AAI owns and manages more than 100 airports, including those shut temporarily Wednesday, in the country.
Pilots say the initiative is a waste of funds.
The license of Kingfisher was issued on August 26, 2003, and is valid till December 31 of this year.
Spelling fresh trouble for Kingfisher Airlines, aviation regulator DGCA is likely to issue a show-cause notice asking why its flying license should not be suspended or cancelled.
SpiceJet will have to refund fare to passengers due to a flight delay.
The controversy over a DGCA note on beleaguered Kingfisher Airlines refused to die down with new DGCA chief Prashant Sukul saying there was no such document and his predecessor E K Bharat Bhushan seeking a probe into whether it was removed from the official file.
In a circular, the DGCA said, "Crew should be well aware of the aircraft limitations and of takeoff/landing performance calculations during the adverse weather operations." The regulator also said that the airlines must "make available sufficiently experienced crew in the cockpit".
The decision comes hours after an A320 neo aircraft of IndiGo suffered engine failure mid-air and made an emergency landing at Ahmedabad airport.
Sobha Puravankara is yet to explain to the safety lapses found by the DGCA.
The aviation regulator has taken some good steps lately.
AirAsia India, whose top officials have promised to offer low and competitive airfares, would have Chennai as its hub and would focus on connecting Tier-II cities to begin with.
The DGCA's unprecedented move came after the regulator's team found that several flights operated by GMR Aviation in the last month, including one on Monday when an aircraft flew Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi to Bhubaneshwar, had skipped some mandatory tests, DGCA sources said.
Regulator in action after grounding pilots for allowing passengers into the cockpit.
The Delhi airport, the country's busiest airport, on Friday early morning witnessed the collapse of a roof at Terminal 1 amid heavy rains that killed one person, prompting the government to order a detailed probe and an inspection of the structural strength of all airports.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has recommended giving financial autonomy to Air India Charters Ltd (AICL), the company which runs Air India Express, the low-cost brand of Air India operating in the international sector.
In a relief to fliers, the civil aviation regulator DGCA has rejected the plea of some airlines to allow them to charge for the check-in baggage saying such a fee would be applicable only on baggage which exceeds the free limit of 15 kgs.
Grounded Indian planes will be up in air by end of April says company president
With full-service carrier Jet Airways and budget airline SpiceJet operating 737 MAX planes, the DGCA has decided to seek information about the aircraft from Boeing as well as the two domestic carriers in view of the air crash in Ethiopia.
With a large number of senior pilots quitting jobs in Indian carriers for greener foreign pastures, aviation regulator DGCA has warned of stringent action, including cancellation of licences, against those leaving without serving proper notice.
Indian airlines will operate a total of 23,732 flights every week during the winter schedule, which is more than 8 per cent higher than the year-ago period, amid rising air traffic demand. The winter schedule 2023 -- effective from October 29 to March 30 next year -- for the scheduled carriers has been approved by aviation regulator DGCA. Go First, which stopped flying from May 3 and is undergoing an insolvency resolution process, will not be having any operations during the winter schedule.
As per the new guidelines, internet services will be provided on the device's flight mode and will be available 10,000 feet above sea level or before arrival or after departure.
The aviation regulator slapped fines amounting to Rs 2.75 crore on Indian airlines in 2023, marking a 39 per cent rise in financial penalties from Rs 1.97 crore in 2022. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said it imposed fines on domestic carriers such as Air India, IndiGo, AirAsia India and SpiceJet for issues related to non-compliance in 2023. The regulator also carried out a record number of 5,745 surveillance activities in the year to ensure compliance by airlines, aerodrome operators, and aviation personnel among others.
Aviation regulator DGCA has found "human error" among others as the cause of an incident at the Bengaluru airport two years ago involving an Air India Dreamliner plane, in which the aircraft's fuselage panel had fallen off at runway during landing.
DGCA sources pegged SpiceJet's total dues at Rs 1,600 crore (Rs 16 billion), which the airline owes lessors, vendors, income-tax department and airport operators.
"We have found that a couple of international airlines are not adhering to the rules. Failure to adhere to rules shall entail strict action," said Director General of Civil Aviation Arun Kumar.
The Delhi high court on Friday directed the civil aviation regulator to deregister planes leased to Go First within five working days, giving respite to the lessors. This means that the airline will have to give back all 54 aircraft to the lessors if its resolution professional (RP) does not challenge the order or ask for a stay. Justice Tara Vitasta Ganju also refused the request of the RP, represented by advocate Diwakar Maheshwari, to keep the operation of the order in abeyance for a week to enable them to file an appeal before the division Bench of the court.
About a week ago, DGCA officials conducted surprise checks and grounded a Reliance Industries-owned 14-seater Falcon 900EX.
Ailing Kingfisher Airlines will have to satisfy aviation regulator DGCA about safe flight operations and also make sure that its employees are not disgruntled before it resumes its services, Civil AviationMinister Ajit Singh said.
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With Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju favouring such checks, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has prepared a monthly programme of surveillance of airports as well as of all schedule, non-schedule and general aviation companies, foreign airlines and the aviation wings of state governments, they said.
The DGCA said, '(the) Crew initiated action only when the master cautions warning i.e after 15 seconds of autopilot disengage'.
The airfares are already 15 per cent higher than last season and due to this shortage it will go higher, said Sharat Dhall, COO of Yatra.com.
