India's aviation watchdog fines Air India for violating flight duty time limitations

Bengaluru: India's air safety watchdog fined Tata Group-owned Air India 8 million rupees ($95,658) for violating flight duty time limitations and fatigue management systems of its flight crew.

In January, the aviation regulator increased the mandatory weekly rest period for flight crew to 48 hours from 36 hours, a decision that followed a review of pilot fatigue data after an IndiGo pilot collapsed and died in August last year before his flight.

Air India did not provide adequate weekly rest, adequate rest before and after ultra-long flights and adequate rest on layover to flight crew, thus violating revised rules, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said on Friday.

Air India did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

DGCA issued a show cause notice to Air India on March 1, following a spot audit in January to verify the regulatory compliance by the airline, a response to which was not found satisfactory, according to the regulator.

Although pilot fatigue is a global problem, India, the world's fastest-growing aviation market, is at the heart of the matter, with hundreds of new planes being ordered by IndiGo and Air India.