Indian DGCA Penalizes Airlines for 19 Safety Breaches in 2025

December 8, 2025 at 11:24 AM•2 min read

India's aviation regulator, the DGCA, has taken action against 19 safety violations by airlines so far in 2025, Parliament was informed, highlighting

Key Points

1The Indian DGCA has taken action against 19 airline safety violations in 2025, part of a rising enforcement trend since 2021.
2Violations encompass critical areas such as crew breath analyser rules, unauthorized cockpit access, and Flight Duty Time Limitations.
3Maintenance shortcomings, including operating aircraft with expired emergency equipment, were also among the breaches identified.
4Significant manpower vacancies across Indian aviation bodies like DGCA and AAI raise concerns about regulatory oversight capacity.

The Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has initiated action against 19 safety-related violations by various airlines in 2025 to date. This information was disclosed to Parliament on Monday, December 8, by Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha. The data provided detailed insights into airline non-compliance, safety budgets, and staffing shortages across critical aviation bodies.

Mohol highlighted a consistent increase in enforcement actions by the DGCA over the past five years. The number of actions against scheduled airlines has risen from just two in 2021 to seven in 2022, ten in 2023, and twenty-two in 2024, before reaching nineteen so far this year. These regulatory actions include the imposition of financial penalties, suspensions of approvals or authorizations, and the issuance of official warnings.

The violations identified by the Indian regulator span a broad spectrum of safety lapses. These include non-compliance with breath analyser rules for flight crew, failures in flight data monitoring, instances of unauthorized cockpit access, and deficiencies in quality assurance audits. Further breaches involved the misuse of flight simulators without DGCA approval, deployment of crew without mandatory training, and violations of Flight Duty Time Limitations. Maintenance-related shortcomings, such as failure to adhere to proper procedures, deficiencies during spot checks, and even cases of aircraft being flown with expired emergency equipment, were also reported. The Minister also noted government funding allocated to bolster DGCA's safety and regulatory oversight and revealed current vacancy statuses across the DGCA, Airports Authority of India (AAI), Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), and Air Traffic Controllers, indicating potential manpower gaps impacting safety functions.