Air India told to fire 3 employees over 'recent safety lapses'

Air India has reportedly been told by India's aviation watchdog to fire three officials responsible for crew rostering, with the regulator alleging involvement in "serious and repeated lapses". The order, issued by India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), reads: "Repeated and serious violations voluntarily disclosed by Air India concerning flight crew being scheduled and operated despite lapses in licensing, rest, and recency requirements," as per The Times of India.

The alleged violations "were discovered during review (in crew rostering platform transition)", it claimed, according to the outlet. "The voluntary disclosures, while noted, point to systemic failures in crew scheduling, compliance monitoring, and internal accountability. Of particular concern is the absence of strict disciplinary measures against key officials directly responsible for these operational lapses."

The order alleges the three officials "have been involved in serious and repeated lapses including but not limited to: Unauthorised and non-compliant crew pairings; Violation of mandatory licensing and recency norms; Systemic failures in scheduling protocol and oversight."

The regulator has reportedly directed Air India to "remove" the three officials "from all roles and responsibilities related to crew scheduling and rostering".

It also called for internal displinary proceedings to be initiated against the officials "without delay", adding that the outcome "shall be reported to this office within 10 days from the date of this letter".

The regulator said the 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 continued that any "future violation of crew scheduling norms, licensing, or flight time limitations detected in any post-audit or inspection, will attract strict enforcement action, including but not limited to penalties, license suspension, or withdrawal of operator permissions as applicable".

The watchdog said the alleged violations "were discovered during the post-transition review from ARMS [Air Route Management System] to the CAE Flight and Crew Management System", a software platform Air India uses for various operational and management tasks, including, among others, flight planning, and crew rostering, as per Telegraph India.

The order comes less than 10 days after a deadly crash in Ahmedabad that killed all but one of 242 onboard the London-bound flight and several more on the ground.

It's not clear whether the direction from the aviation regulator is directly linked to the crash.

The deadly crash was believed to be the first involving a 787 Dreamliner crash in the aircraft's 16-year history, with a number of Air India flights cancelled in the wake of the tragedy.

Investigations are underway to establish what went wrong after the plane crashed shortly after taking off from the airport in western India.

According to Telegraph India, Air India acknowledged the directive in a statement and said it had implemented the order.

"In the interim, the company's Chief Operations Officer will provide direct oversight to the Integrated Operations Control Centre (IOCC)," it added.

"Air India is committed to ensuring that there is total adherence to safety protocols and standard practices."

Air India could not immediately be reached for comment by Express.co.uk. We have reached out to Tata Group, which owns Air India.

The carrier is reducing international service on wide-body aircraft by 15% until at least mid-July due to safety inspections in the wake of the crash, as per ABC News.

The watchdog said this week that suveillance carried out on Air India's fleet of Boeing 787 showed the "aircraft and associated maintenance systems were found to be compliant with existing safety standards".

Air India chairman N. Chandrasekaran "We will do everything to support" the families of those killed and injured, but urged people against "speculations" about what happened, insisting the plane in question "has a clean history".

Boeing President and chief exective Kelly Ortberg said, "Our deepest condolences go out to the loved ones of the passengers and crew on board Air India Flight 171, as well as everyone affected in Ahmedabad.

She added that she had spoken with Mr Chandrasekaran "to offer our full support, and a Boeing team stands ready to support the investigation led by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau".