DGCA suspends 2 senior Akasa Air officials over lapses in pilot training | Business News
India’s aviation safety regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has suspended two senior officials of Akasa Air Friday over lapses in training of pilots, according to sources familiar with the matter. The regulator has suspended the carrier’s director operations and director training for six months, and has advised the airline to appoint suitable candidates in their place.
The action follows an audit by the safety regulator that revealed failure in compliance with civil aviation requirements on the airline’s part, it is learnt.
“Akasa Air is in receipt of an order from the DGCA dated 27th December 2024. We will continue to work with the DGCA and comply accordingly. Safety is of utmost importance, and we continuously strive to pursue the highest standards of safety,” an Akasa Air spokesperson said.
A request to the DGCA seeking comment on the matter remained unanswered.
Friday’s action by the DGCA follows a series of fines imposed by the regulator on the fledgling airline in recent months, including those pertaining to lapses in pilot training. A section of the airline’s pilots had also recently approached the civil aviation ministry alleging mismanagement, favouritism, harassment, and compromised safety standards in the airline’s pilot training and evaluation processes. The carrier had denied these allegations as “baseless and untrue”.
According to sources in the know, the DGCA’s decision to suspend the two senior Akasa Air officials followed an audit of the carrier’s training facility in October, in which the regulator discovered lapses in pilots’ training for “required navigation performance (RNP) approaches”. The DGCA observed that simulators being used for the training were not equipped for training for RNP approaches, it is learnt.
An RNP approach is a navigation system that allows aircraft to fly along precise three-dimensional flight paths. RNP approach is considered safer and more efficient than other approaches due to its extremely high accuracy even in congested airspaces.
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Following the audit in October, the DGCA issued a show cause notice to the airline, to which the airline responded, but the regulator found the responses to be unsatisfactory. According to sources, the DGCA has told the airline that the two officials did not ensure compliance with certain civil aviation requirements (CARs), and had failed in training the pilots properly.
