DGCA fines Air India ₹1 crore for flying Airbus without permit, says it ‘eroded public confidence’

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), India's civil aviation regulator, has fined Air India ₹1 crore ($110,350) for flying an Airbus aircraft eight times without an airworthiness permit, saying that the incident has eroded public trust in the airline, news agency Reuters reported. Air India is the second-largest carrier in the country after IndiGo.

The DGCA imposed the fine after Air India operated an Airbus A320 on passenger flights between New Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Hyderabad on 24 and 25 November without the mandatory Airworthiness Review Certificate or ARC, which is a key permit issued on an annual basis by the regulator after a plane passes safety and compliance checks.

Meanwhile, Air India carried an internal investigation into the incident in December, which also found "systemic failures", within the airline. It admitted that there was an urgent need to improve compliance culture at the carrier, the agency report said.

‘Eroded public confidence’

A confidential penalty order issued by the aviation authorities on 5 February 2026 to Air India CEO Campbell Wilson stated that the incident had "further eroded public confidence and adversely impacted the safety compliance of the organisation".

"The accountable manager on behalf of Air India is found blameworthy for the above lapses," Joint Director General of Civil Aviation, Maneesh Kumar, wrote in the order, referring to Wilson.

The airline has been directed to deposit ₹1 crore within the next 30 days.

The penalty also comes months after Air India suffered its worst disaster when a Boeing Dreamliner, headed to Heathrow in London from Ahmedabad, crashed moments after take-off. The crash in June last year killed 260 people.

Internal probe blames pilots for Airbus incident

An investigation into the Airbus incident by Air India also blamed pilots, saying those who flew the eight flights did not comply with standard operating procedures before taking off, Reuters reported.

Air India, which is owned by the Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, has also faced warnings from the aviation watchdog for operating planes without conducting mandatory checks on emergency equipment, along with several other audit lapses, the agency said.