Air-India denies breaking DGCA safety regulations

Reacting to the allegations made by Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on duty time of pilots, the national flag carrier, Air-India, said it has strictly followed all the norms and civil aviation requirements (CAR) on flight duties laid down by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

Raut, a Parliamentary consultative committee member of the ministry of civil aviation, alleged the carrier had violated air safety standards regarding crew training and duty time of pilots, thereby endangering passenger safety.

"The matter is sub judice. We are set to reply the public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Raut in the Mumbai High Court," said an Air-India spokesperson. According to the aviation industry analysts, non-stop operations of international airlines have resulted in pilots being overworked.

"As per the DGCA norms, if an air carrier schedules flight crew for more than nine hours without a break, the rest period at the end of the flight should be extended to twice the time of the extended flight time," said an industry source.

A former Boeing employee had also made allegation against safety practices of Air-India.

He said that he had approached the US Supreme Court against executives of both the companies.

However, the US manufacturer Boeing termed the allegations of the former employee Anthony Keyter's "false, reckless and without merit."

Boeing said there was no lawsuit against the company executives.

"Neither Air-India's Chairman Vasudevan Thulasidas nor any Boeing employee have been served court papers and no complaint has been with any court including the US Supreme Court despite Keyter's assertions," said Boeing executives.

"While the international average flying hours are between 85 to 90 per month, Air India only has 55 to 60 hour per month. The airline plans to take this to the international average with better utilisation and turnaround of pilots," he said.