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<\/p>\nThe Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday suspended Air India’s Boeing simulator facility in Mumbai after finding certain alleged lapses during a spot check, a DGCA official said.<\/p>\n
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The pilots, who were scheduled to undergo refresher courses at the Mumbai facility, will now not be able to do so.<\/p>\n
Their licenses and other certifications would lapse, affecting their ability to operate commercial flights.<\/p>\n
Air India uses its Boeing planes primarily to operate its long-haul international flights.<\/p>\n
If pilot licenses and certificates lapse, its international flights could get impacted.<\/p>\n
Air India did not respond to queries sent by Business Standard<\/em>.<\/p>\n “Air India has been directed to utilise the ATO (Approved Training Organisation) only after suitably addressing the concerns of DGCA raised following a spot check of the simulator,” a senior DGCA official told the newspaper.<\/p>\n All pilots have to undergo compulsory license renewal every six months using a simulator.<\/p>\n They also have to undergo certification courses — instrument rating, ground training refresher, aviation security — every year using a simulator.<\/p>\n If these certification courses and license renewals are not done, a pilot can’t operate a commercial flight.<\/p>\n Air India’s Mumbai simulator facility is used for Boeing pilots, while its Hyderabad facility is for Airbus pilots.<\/p>\n Air India has 74 Airbus planes and 53 Boeing planes in its fleet as on August 1, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.<\/p>\n An Air India official said these refresher programmes are not conducted on a daily basis.<\/p>\n The official claimed that there is no cause for concern as the training of pilots is scheduled on an annual basis.<\/p>\n “This is a routine exercise in the aviation sector, and a part of checks and balances in all airlines. We are taking corrective action (on the recent development).<\/p>\n “We have enough pilots to tide over this process of corrective action,” the airline official added.<\/p>\n In February, Air India had placed an order for 470 planes: 250 with European plane maker Airbus and 220 with Boeing.<\/p>\n This order is the world’s second-largest single-tranche aircraft purchase.<\/p>\n The order with Boeing is for 190 B737Max, 20 B787s and 10 B777s aircraft.<\/p>\n The Airbus firm order comprises 210 A320 family and 40 A350 planes.<\/p>\n A350, B777 and B787 are wide body aircraft that have bigger fuel tanks, allowing them to traverse long distances such as India-North America routes.<\/p>\n The Tata Group took control of Air India in January last year. In FY23, Air India’s net loss jumped by 19.16 per cent to Rs 11,387.96 crore.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, Air India unveiled its new logo and livery consisting of red, golden and violet colours.<\/p>\n