Directorate General of Civil Aviation audit puts Air India in dock

An audit conducted by the DGCA on national carrier Air India has shown that Air India did not authenticate the records of foreign pilots hired by it — to check for accident-free records — from the requisite “competent authority”. 

These foreign pilots were hired by Air India and deputed to its low-cost arm Air India Express. Instead these records were only checked by the recruitment agency through whom the recruitment took place. The DGCA audit also found that Air India did not authenticate the logging of flying hours of its pilots which are taken from pilot reports. It also found that for cockpit crew (pilots), no flight duty time limitation (FDTL) monitoring is carried out as per operations manual for executive and other pilots.

In a recent audit of Air India’s surveillance of operations, the DGCA (audit) observed, “The expat pilots are recruited by Air India and deputed to AICL (which operates Air India Express). Those files were cross-checked by the recruitment agencies. However, no checks are initiated by Air India for the authenticity of the recorded documents which includes accident/incident free record from competent authority, and not by the recruitment agency.”

When contacted, an Air India spokesperson said he will have to check specifically on the audit findings but added that Air India takes action on any audit findings of the DGCA.

In fact, the DGCA audit on Air India’s surveillance of operations further noted, “There is no authenticity of logging of flying hours of pilot(s). The flying hours are taken from pilot reports. There is no signature/date of pilot to authenticate the document on the form... There is no tracking/control/supervision/ check of flying hours logged by the pilot.” The DGCA also found other anomalies in Air India. For instance, it found that “for (Air India) cockpit crew, no flight duty time limitation (FDTL) monitoring is carried out as per operations manual for executive and other pilots”. It further noted, “As per operations manual of Air India, for executive pilots, the time spent in office is to be monitored. When it was cross-checked, no monitoring is carried out.”

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