India’s aviation regulator has imposed an Rs 1 crore ($110,350) penalty on Air India after an Airbus A320 operated eight commercial flights without a valid airworthiness clearance. This lapse, as per the authorities, stated that it damaged public confidence and raised concerns about the airline’s safety compliance.
A confidential penalty order, as cited by Reuters, showed that the aircraft flew passengers between New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad on November 24 and 25, 2025, even though it did not have the mandatory Airworthiness Review Certificate (ARC) in force. The ARC is a crucial permit that is issued annually after an aircraft clears prescribed safety and compliance checks. The order dated February 5 directed Air India to deposit the fine within 30 days.
What did the regulator mention?
In the order, Joint Director General of Civil Aviation Mannesh Kumar stated that the incident had “further eroded public confidence and adversely impacted the safety compliance of the organisation,” as quoted by Reuters. The document also stated that the airline’s “accountable manager” responsible for this lapse, referring to Air India CEO Campbell Wilson.
Air India acknowledged receiving the DGCA order and mentioned that the matter had been voluntarily reported by the regulator last year. “All identified gaps have since been satisfactorily addressed and shared with the authority,” the airline stated. As reported by Reuters.
Aircraft history, timeline and Vistara
The aircraft was identified as an Airbus A320 with registration VT-TQN, which operated eight flights on an expired ARC before Air India informed the DGC on November 26. As per the Indian Express report, based on flight-tracking data, the three-year-old aircraft, earlier operated by Vistara, appeared to have been grounded immediately after the disclosure. The last flight operated was on November 25. The aircraft has been under maintenance for about a month and was later returned to service on December 19 after the ARC was renewed.
Internal probe and wider scrutiny
Air India’s internal probe found “systematic failures” and flagged an urgent need to strengthen compliance. The airline’s investigation also blamed pilots for not following standard operating procedures before departure on those flights. The airline had earlier received watchdog warnings over checks, such as audit issues and emergency equipment. This development comes at a time when Air India is under sharper regulatory scrutiny following last year’s major crash involving a Boeing Dreamliner that killed 250 people.