The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday, August 29 imposed a penalty of Rs 10 lakh on Air India Express for not paying compensation to passengers for cancelled flights. 

DGCA had carried out an inspection in accordance with its Annual Surveillance Programme 2024 for scheduled domestic airlines in June, in respect of norms pertaining to facilities and compensation that are to be provided to passengers.

"During the surveillance inspection of the airlines, it was observed that Air India Express was not complying with the provisions of CAR Section-3, Series M, Part IV," the DGCA said in a release. Subsequently, a show-cause notice was issued to Air India Express. 

The regulator said the airline's reply revealed that it had not complied with the provisions for providing compensation to passengers affected due to cancellation of flights. Consequently, DGCA decided to slap a fine of Rs 10 lakh on the airline.

Last week, DGCA imposed a financial penalty of Rs 90 lakh on Tata Group-owned Air India Limited for operating a flight with non-qualified crew members.

In addition, a penalty of Rs 6 lakh and Rs 3 lakh was imposed on the Director of Operations and Director Training of Air India, respectively. The pilot concerned has also been warned to exercise caution to prevent such occurrences in future.

Air India operated a flight commanded by a non-trainer line captain paired with a non-line-released first officer which has been viewed by the civil aviation regulator as a serious scheduling incident having significant safety ramifications.

The incident came to the notice of DGCA through a voluntary report submitted by Air India on July 10. Taking cognisance of the incident, the regulator undertook comprehensive investigations into Air India’s operations, including examination of documents and carrying out a spot check of the airline’s scheduling facility.

Earlier, the DGCA had grounded the two pilots of Air India after the rostering goof-up which led to a trainee pilot operating a Mumbai-Riyadh flight without the supervision of a training captain.