DGCA Issues a Show – Cause Notice to AirAsia India!!

After a Pilot [Captain] – Youtuber, Gaurav Taneja, mentioned in his Youtube video the flight safety issues of the AirAsia India and also some violations of the Covid-19 Guidelines which was issued to all the Airlines, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has issued an inquiry on the AirAsia India.

Gaurav Taneja is an India Youtuber with around 3.1 million subscribers on his Youtube Channel – “Flying Beast”. He has completed his engineering from the esteemed IIT, Kharagpur. He has an experience of around 12 Years in the aviation industry. It was then when he joined the AirAsia India quitting his job in Indigo as a Captain, he started noticing some major flaws in the safety of passengers & crew members. He took it the notice of the higher officials but was neglected and ignored as the policies he took to the notice were the major profit causing issues. The major flaws he talked about were :

1. Crew Fatigue: AirAsia has a certain policy on the holidays as its SOP. Unlike other jobs, a pilot has only a day off in a week. If suppose the pilot gets unwell in his working day and takes a leave, AirAsia shows it as an off day and the pilot has to work on his promised off day. The Company has to understand that if he is unwell and takes a leave it does not means that he is rejuvenated and fatigue-free. This malpractice can be very harmful to its passengers and even the crew.

2. Forcing only Flap-3 Configuration: AirAsia India forces a 98% target to complete with only flap-3 landing. While both flap-3 and full flap landing are safe and approved by the Airbus itself. But there are some conditions like rainfall, weather conditions and the geographical surrounding like steep cliffs, etc. in such conditions then it’s the Captains’ call to go either for flap-3 or full flap landing. But AirAsia forces only flap-3 by promising a bonus only to save aero fuel while ignores passenger safety.

3. Neglecting COVID-19 Guidelines: During the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemics, the DGCA issued a list of Guidelines to be followed by all the airlines but AirAsia neglected many of these Guidelines. Hence, it can also be seen that the growing numbers of Corona patients in India during the initial stages can be a consequence of the AirAsia’s ignorance.

After Gaurav Taneja took it to the notice of the higher officials of the AirAsia India, he was cornered and suspended. He then took the matter legally and made a video titled “Reason Behind Suspension from my Pilot Job”, the video soon went viral and #boycottairasia started to trend and in hours DGCA gave a response on starting an inquiry. But even the inquiry was ongoing, the Head Of Operations of AirAsia India, Manish Uppal, continued his term and was not suspended until the inquiry.

The video got a mixed response varying from Good to Bad, many of them supported him while some Youtubers like Boeing Boy and others went on to give a different opinion by just cutting a part of the video and then misinterpreting it.

After around a 17 days inquiry the DGCA has issued a show-cause notice on AirAsia India and has asked Manish Uppal to give an explanation in 21 days. The Flying Beast Army are too happy after the impeccable response from DGCA.

It is also rumored that AirAsia India will soon stop its operations and will give an end to TATA AIRASIA JOINT VENTURE. But for now, there is no confirmation news from the operator.

Its also unclear that what AirAsia India thinks on the matter and also will Manish Uppal Continue his next term as the Head of Operation, AirAsia India.