New Delhi: The civil aviation regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday imposed a fine of ₹10 lakh on Akasa Air for refusing boarding to seven passengers on a Bengaluru-Pune flight. The incident occurred on 6 September when flight QP 1437, scheduled to depart from Bengaluru international airport at 2050 hrs, was grounded.
The Boeing MAX aircraft was grounded due to damage by a foreign object. The aircraft was replaced. However, there were nine non-operational seats, due to which seven passengers were denied boarding. Akasa Air moved the seven passengers to another flight but failed to give compensation to the affected passengers.
As per DGCA, Akasa Air failed to comply with the provisions of CAR Section-3, Series M, Part IV.
Violation of Aircraft Rules
In the demand notice accessed by Mint, DGCA said, “In exercise of the powers conferred under Rule 162 of the Aircraft Rules, 1937, and delegated under Ministry of Civil Aviation notification No. S.0.3016 (E) dated 29th July 2021, Akasa is imposed a penalty of Rs. 10,00,000/ in violation of Aircraft Rules, 1937. The penalty amount shall be deposited within thirty days of receipt of the demand notice.”
In a statement a Akasa Air spokesperson said, “We acknowledge receipt of an order by the DGCA dated December 23, 2024. We continue to work closely with the DGCA to address this matter and enhance our protocols as required by the regulator.”
DGCA recently served two showcause notices to Akasa Air on regulatory lapses. The first was served earlier in December for poor maintenance standards and lapses during a spot-check conducted at Bengaluru airport.
Unrevised operations manual
Another notice was served as DGCA found that the director of flight operations did not revise the operations manual within the mandatory six-month. The airline said that it is working with the regulator on the showcause notices.
This comes as Akasa Air is again involved in issues with its pilots. Recently a section of pilots accused the airline of malpractice affecting the safety of pilots. The pilots alleged they were threatened by a key senior official if pilots reported sick. In a letter to the Union civil aviation minister, the pilots accused the airline of instructing trainers to fail pilots. The pilots also accused a senior official of delaying approvals impacting the airline’s operations.
The airline currently has a strength of 840 pilots with only 26 aircraft in the fleet. As per industry insiders, Akasa is likely to induct new aircraft in single digits in 2025.
Denying these allegations, an Akasa Air spokesperson said, “These claims are entirely baseless and untrue. The letter appears to be a malicious attempt to tarnish Akasa Air’s image and reputation. Akasa Air works very closely with the DGCA and MoCA and has been a direct beneficiary of their transparent and progressive policies and regulations.”
