DGCA issues notices to 22 ex-Indigo pilots for not serving notice period

Aviation regulator DGCA issued showcause notices to 22 former Indigo pilots who have left the airlines without serving their mandatory notice periods after quitting and has also warned them that they could face cancellation of their licenses.

According to a_CNN-IBN_ report, these pilots have been given a 15-day period to respond to the notice. The pilots have to inform DGCA why their licenses should not be cancelled, considering they didn’t serve the 6-month notice period.

With a large number of senior pilots quitting jobs in Indian carriers for greener pastures abroad, the DGCA warned them of stringent action last week including punitive steps like cancellation of licences of those leaving without serving notice.

Last week, DGCA’s Joint Director General Lalit Gupta wrote to the CEOs of all Indian airlines to prepare a list of such pilots who have left and joined foreign carriers “without informing and providing minimum notice period” in accordance with rules or Civil Aviation Requirements (CARs), along with their license numbers and other details.

Attrition of senior pilots and commanders “may leave a vacuum of trained and qualified pilots with the scheduled domestic airlines which may result in last minute cancellation of flights and harassment to travelling public”, a top DGCA official had told_PTI_in New Delhi.

The move comes in the wake of over 100 pilots, especially those from IndiGo, Jet Airways and Air India, quitting and joining international airlines over the past year or so.