The DGCA on Friday issued a strong directive to Air India to remove three of its key officials from crew scheduling responsibilities following repeated and serious violations of aviation safety protocols.
The officials named are Choorah Singh, Divisional Vice President; Pinky Mittal, Chief Manager – DOPS, Crew Scheduling; and Payal Arora, Crew Scheduling – Planning.
According to the DGCA order dated June 20, these individuals were involved in multiple lapses, including unauthorised and non-compliant crew pairings, violations of licensing and crew rest norms and systemic failures in oversight.
The order comes days after an Air India flight from Ahmedabad to Gatwick, London, crashed moments after takeoff, killing over 270 people on board and on ground.
The regulator has now directed Air India to immediately remove the named officials from their current operational roles. Air India was also ordered to initiate internal disciplinary proceedings against them and submit the report to the aviation watchdog within 10 days.
“Internal disciplinary proceedings must be initiated against these officials without delay, and the outcome of such proceedings shall be reported to this office within 10 days from the date of issue of this letter,” the DGCA order read.
The officials are also to be reassigned to non-operational roles and are barred from holding any position with direct influence on flight safety and crew compliance until further notice.
The aforementioned officials shall be reassigned to non-operational roles pending conclusion of corrective reforms in scheduling practices, and shall not hold any position involving direct influence over flight safety and crew compliance until further notice,” it added.
These issues came to light during the post-transition audit from the ARMS to the CAE Flight and Crew Management System.
Additionally, DGCA has reportedly issued a show-cause notice to Air India’s Accountable Manager after a spot check revealed that two Bengaluru-London flights (AI-133) operated on May 16 and 17, 2025, exceeded the permissible flight time limit of 10 hours.
“it has been observed that the Accountable Manager of Air India operated two flights from Bangalore to London (Al-133) on 16 May 2025 and 17 May 2025, both of which exceeded the stipulated flight time limit of 10 hours,” DGCS said in a separate order.
The officer has been given seven days to explain why enforcement action should not be taken for the violation.