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

India’s civil aviation regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), fined Air India ₹He was awarded Rs 1 crore ($110,350) for flying an Airbus plane eight times without an airworthiness permit, the news agency said, saying the incident had shaken public confidence in the airline. Reuters reported. Air India is the country’s second largest airline after IndiGo.

The DGCA imposed the penalty after Air India used Airbus A320 on passenger flights between New Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Hyderabad on November 24 and 25 without the mandatory Airworthiness Review Certificate or ARC, a key clearance granted by the regulator on an annual basis after an aircraft passes safety and fitness checks.

Meanwhile, Air India conducted an internal investigation into the incident in December, which also found “systemic failures” within the airline. The agency report acknowledged the urgent need to improve the culture of compliance at the carrier.

‘Public trust has been shaken’

A confidential criminal order issued by aviation authorities to Air India CEO Campbell Wilson on February 5, 2026, stated that the incident “further eroded public trust and adversely affected the organisation’s safety compliance”.

“The responsible manager on behalf of Air India is found liable for the above errors,” Maneesh Kumar, Joint Director General of Civil Aviation, wrote, referring to Wilson in the order.

The airline was instructed to deposit money ₹1 crore in the next 30 days.

The penalty also comes months after Air India’s worst disaster, when a Boeing Dreamliner en route from Ahmedabad to Heathrow in London crashed soon after takeoff. 260 people died in the accident in June last year.

Internal investigation blames pilots for Airbus incident

In the investigation carried out by Air India into the Airbus incident, the pilots were also accused and those who operated the eight flights were said to have failed to comply with standard operating procedures before take-off. Reuters reported.

The agency said Air India, owned by the Tata Group and Singapore Airlines, also faced warnings from the aviation watchdog for operating planes without mandatory checks on emergency equipment, among many other inspection failures.