Air India CEO Campbell Wilson, responding to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)’s action against AI pilots for allowing a woman friend into the cockpit, said that “our industry operates with a ‘just culture’ mindset.” The DGCA on June 22 suspended Air India pilots who allowed a woman friend into the cockpit of a Chandigarh to Leh flight on June 3.
“Our industry operates with a “just culture” mindset that recognises that genuine mistakes happen and that they are opportunities to learn and improve. But we must learn and improve, and repeats indicate that we are not adequately doing so whether due to complacency, carelessness or some other factor”, as stated by Wilson in his note to the employees.
Wilson, while addressing Air India employees on Friday, expressed his disappointment and said that suspending the pilots for a year is a long period.
“You may have read about the license suspension our regulator handed to two of our colleagues for not adhering to sterile cockpit regulations. The one-year suspension is long but given that this is the second such incident in a relatively short space of time, it is quite understandable,” Campbell Wilson told AI employees.
Air India has witnessed two consecutive reports of cockpit violations where regulator DGCA has taken stern action against the company including the pilots.
The CEO of Air India insisted and advised the employees to follow the rules and regulations strictly.
“The rules and regulations exist for a reason, and we expect them to be followed. The strong action taken by DGCA should serve as a reinforcement, not that one should be needed, that it is incumbent on us all to keep elevating our game,” he said.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation suspended the license of Pilot-In-Command (PIC) and First Officer of Air India for a period of one year and one month respectively for allowing an unauthorised person into the cockpit during a flight on Thursday.
According to DGCA, on June 3, the Pilot in Command of Air India flight AI-458 (Chandigarh – Leh) allowed an unauthorised person into the cockpit during departure and the person remained in the cockpit throughout the flight.