Aviation regulators slap ₹2.7 crore penalties on three airlines, Mumbai airport
₹2.7 crore on IndiGo, Air India, SpiceJet and the Mumbai airport following passenger inconvenience and violation of security norms amid fog-related disruption in air travel over the past few weeks. The regulators have imposed a cumulative penalty of ₹1.2 crore on India's largest airline IndiGo, ₹90 lakh on Mumbai airport and ₹30 lakh each on Air India and SpiceJet.
Before the onset of the fog season every year, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) holds meetings with aviation stakeholders such as airline operators and aerodrome operators. At a 6 November meeting, airlines were instructed to roster pilots qualified to operate in low-visibility conditions during fog conditions.
"The flight delay/cancellation/diversion related data submitted by scheduled airlines for December 2023 were analyzed in DGCA and it was found that SpiceJet and Air India did not roster CAT II/III and low visibility qualified pilots for some of the flights and thus they failed to comply with the directions issued," the civil aviation regulator said. This also constituted a violation of the relevant Civil Aviation Requirements.
Based on these violations and non-compliance with DGCA directives, show-cause notices were issued to SpiceJet and Air India on 2 January, and their responses were found to be unsatisfactory, the DGCA said. The civil aviation ministry has also issued a show-cause notice to IndiGo and Mumbai International Airport Ltd after a video of passengers eating on the airport's tarmac surfaced on social media platforms.
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