New Delhi: India’s civil aviation watchdog has fined Air India $110,350 for flying an Airbus plane eight times without an airworthiness permit, saying the lapse has further eroded public trust in the country’s second-biggest airline, a confidential order shows.
An Airbus A320 flew passengers between New Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Hyderabad on November 24 and November 25 without the mandatory Airworthiness Review Certificate, or ARC, a key permit issued annually by the regulator after a plane passes safety and compliance checks.
Make sense of the latest ESG trends affecting companies and governments with the Reuters Sustainable Switch newsletter. Sign up here.
Air India’s own internal investigation into the incident, which Reuters reported in December, found “systemic failures”, with the airline, which also admitted there was an urgent need to improve compliance culture at the carrier.
A confidential penalty order issued by Indian authorities on February 5 to Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said the incident had “further eroded public confidence and adversely impacted the safety compliance of the organisation.”
The airline has been asked to deposit the fine within 30 days.
Air India suffered its worst disaster when a Boeing Dreamliner crashed moments after take-off in June last year, killing 260 people.
The Airbus incident investigation by Air India also blamed pilots, saying those who flew the eight flights did not comply with standard operating procedures before taking off, Reuters has reported.
Air India, which is owned by India’s Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, has also received warnings from the watchdog for running planes without checking emergency equipment as well as other audit lapses.
“The accountable manager on behalf of Air India is found blameworthy for the above lapses,” Joint Director General of Civil Aviation, Maneesh Kumar, wrote in the order, referring to Wilson.
Air India in a statement said it acknowledged the regulatory order on the incident, which it had voluntarily reported last year to authorities. “All identified gaps have since been satisfactorily addressed and shared with the authority,” it said.
This report is auto-generated from Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
Also Read: Mongolian carrier to custom-built Dreamliner—what Wings India 2026 showcases
So even planes can fly without required certification and here we are expecting better driving skills on roads ? I shall keep my mouth shut henceforth ! Outrageous to say the least ! Bring in more airlines so that such acts can be punished severely. AI should have been banned from flying out of these airports for atleast a week !