10 Jet Airways pilots off duty for getting DGCA official’s designation wrong

As many as 10 pilots of the Jet Airways have been kept out of flying duties, and their mistake — quoting incorrectly the designation of a senior DGCA official in a communique.

A communication, sent to the aviation watchdog opposing the proposal to increase the notice period for pilots to one year, in which the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) official’s designation was written incorrectly, seem to be have backfired with an ‘arbitrary’ regulatory action against them, sources said.

The airline’s domestic pilots body- the National Aviator’s Guild (NAG) – termed the move as “threatening” and said it will, along with other pilots association, approach the Prime Minister’s Office to seek the official’s removal.

A response to a query sent to the Jet Airways on the issue was awaited.

The response of the official is not only “threatening” in nature, but also “shows how one individual can hold all the airlines to ransom for an error as minuscule as mentioning his designation incorrectly,” the NAG said in a statement.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has recently proposed a notice period of one year for pilots and six months for co-pilots before leaving the services of their current company. The DGCA and the …read more