One notice stated that Air India operated four ultra-long-haul flights—three in April and one in May—without the adequate number of cabin crew being deployed, thereby flouting cabin crew duty and rest regulations. (Source: File)

India’s aviation safety regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued a series of show cause notices to Tata group airline Air India over lapses pertaining to inadequate cabin crew deployment, mandatory crew rest periods, and crew training and operational procedures, it is learnt. The notices, at least four in number, were issued on Wednesday and were based on voluntary disclosures by Air India. The regulator has given the airline 14-15 days to respond to the notices, failing which the DGCA will proceed with action based on the information available to it.

“We acknowledge receipt of these notices from the regulator related to certain voluntary disclosures that were made over the last one year by Air India. We will respond to the said notices within the stipulated period. We remain committed to the safety of our crew and passengers,” an Air India spokesperson said on Thursday.

The latest show cause notices come close on the heels of other regulatory action on Air India pertaining to safety-related issues over the past month or so. The airline has evidently been under the DGCA scanner following the June 12 crash of its flight AI 171 in Ahmedabad, in which 260 persons perished—241 of the 242 people on board, and another 19 on the ground. A preliminary investigation report into the tragic crash said that the Air India plane crashed after both its engines were starved of fuel as the two fuel control switches transitioned from ‘RUN’ to ‘CUTOFF’ position within a second of each other moments after lift-off. Story continues below this ad One notice stated that Air India operated four ultra-long-haul flights—three in April and one in May—without the adequate number of cabin crew being deployed, thereby flouting cabin crew duty and rest regulations. Instead of the necessary 15 cabin crew members, one flight was operated with 12 crew members, while the other three had 14 crew members each. “Such non-compliance represents a serious breach of regulatory requirements and raises concerns about the safety management and operational oversight within your organization,” the DGCA said in the relevant show cause notice. Another notice based on voluntary disclosure by Air India cited 19 instances of violations in crew training and operational procedures since July 2024. Three of the lapses pertained to pilots, while 16 pertained to cabin crew. “Despite repeated warnings and enforcement actions in the past, these violations demonstrate a continuing failure to implement effective training governance and compliance monitoring mechanisms. This constitutes a serious safety and regulatory concern,” the DGCA said. Another show cause notice pertained to two instances of cabin crew members operating flights without valid competency cards, and one instance where a cabin crew member operated a flight, despite having accidentally deployed an emergency slide. Deployment of the slide without being required bars the cabin crew member from operating a flight without going through a requalification process.