NEW DELHI: Facing regulatory heat for two pilots operating a flight each last month despite not meeting mandatory licence requirements, Air India on Saturday (Nov 1) sent all its cockpit crew members a “final reminder for pilot responsibility towards ensuring regulatory compliance prior or post undertaking any rostered duty.” It has warned failure to do so could lead to “strict disciplinary action including termination of services and/or trainer status.”“While necessary monitoring systems and processes have been put in place by the airline, pilots act as the last line of defence and must display their responsibility towards regulatory compliance by adherence to guidance provided by the company through operations manual, circular, emails and other operational / administrative documents…. All pilots MUST comply with these requirements. Any non-compliance will lead to strict disciplinary action including termination of services and/or trainer status,” reads the mail sent by Captain Manish Uppal, AI’s senior VP and director of flight operations, to all pilots on Saturday.

The urgency is understandable. Days after the June 12 Ahmedabad crash, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had found serious issues with AI rostering. While ordering immediate removal of three senior officials incharge of crew scheduling following “lapses in licensing, rest, and recency requirements,” the DGCA had warned AI that “any future violation of crew scheduling norms, licensing, or flight time limitations will attract strict enforcement action, including but not limited to penalties, license suspension, or withdrawal of operator permissions as applicable.”The June 20 DGCA order had said: “Repeated and serious violations voluntarily disclosed by Air India concerning flight crew being scheduled and operated despite lapses in licensing, rest, and recency requirements… point to systemic failures in crew scheduling, compliance monitoring, and internal accountability.”However, last month two scheduling and rostering lapses recurred and the airline is under the DGCA lens yet again for the same reason. An Airbus A320 co-pilot operated a flight without undergoing mandatory corrective training after not being able to clear the bi-annual pilot proficiency check (PPC) – instrument rating (IR) test. In the other instance, an A320 captain operated a flight with a lapsed English Language Proficiency (ELP) licence. AI said it has off-rostered (taken off flying duty) both the pilots & a crew scheduler; further action is being taken and that the matter has been reported to the DGCA.Senior pilots question why did the airline’s crew management system (CMS) software not detect the same. Even if the software failed to do its job, why did the pilot/s not refuse to operate the flights. “It is a lapse on both the counts,” said a captain.