Air India to remove 3 officials 'responsible for operational lapses' after DGCA order

The DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) has directed Air India to remove three officials "responsible for operational lapses" from all roles and responsibilities related to crew scheduling and rostering.

DGCA has also directed internal disciplinary proceedings against these officials without delay, and that the outcome of such proceedings shall be reported back within 10 days, the DGCA order read.

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The three officials include a divisional vice president of the airline, as per the DGCA order.

The DGCA’s letter further directed that these officials be reassigned to non-operational roles until scheduling practices are reformed, and they are barred from positions directly affecting flight safety and crew compliance until further notice, as per Indian media reports.

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"These violations were discovered during the post-transition review from ARMS to the CAE Flight and Crew Management System,” DGCA said.

According to the DGCA order shared on X, the three officials are Choorah Singh- Divisional Vice President, Pinky Mittal- Chief Manager – DOPS, Crew Scheduling, and Payal Arora- Crew Scheduling – Planning.

The order comes more than a week after the deadly Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad. Flight AI171, operating from Ahmedabad to London Gatwick on June 12, 2025, crashed shortly after takeoff, resulting in 241 fatalities out of 242 people on board. Several others on the ground were found dead as the aircraft crashed into a hostel for medical staff near the Ahmedabad airport.

Days before the Ahmedabad crash, the DGCA had issued a warning to Air India regarding safety protocol violations, as three of the airline’s Airbus aircraft continued operations despite pending inspections of emergency systems. 

However, the warning wasn't directly related to the plane crash on June 12.

Bahni Bandyopadhyay

bahni@khaleejtimes.com