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.

“These 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”.

“Internal disciplinary proceedings must be initiated against these officials without delay, and the outcome of such proceedings shall be reported to this office within 10 days from the date of this letter,” it adds.

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 limiations 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.”

It 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.

It’s believed to be the first 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.

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

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