Air India Group tops audit with 19 critical safety breaches; DGCA says ‘entirely normal’ 

An audit by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) over the past year identified 19 findings against Air India Group airlines that needed immediate corrective action, while all other carriers recorded zero findings in this category. The regulator, though, claimed that a high number of audit observations was “entirely normal”.

The data released by the DGCA on Wednesday (July 30, 2025) showed that its audit revealed 10 “level 1” findings against Vistara, seven against Air India, and two against Air India Express, all of which are part of the Air India Group. All other airlines recorded zero observations in this category.

In the level 2 category of findings too, there were 74 observations against the three Air India Group airlines. IndiGo had 23 and SpiceJet 14 findings.

Violations that fall under the level 1 category require immediate corrective action, while level 2 findings pertain to non-compliance with regulatory requirements and procedural lapses.

For a comparison of the scale of various airlines, IndiGo has 419 aircraft in its fleet, Air India has nearly 300 aircraft, and SpiceJet has 19 aircraft in service. Smaller regional carriers like Star Air (nine aircraft) recorded 41 level 2 findings, and Alliance Air (21 aircraft) recorded 57 findings. Cargo operator Quikjet (two aircraft), which is a partner for e-commerce giant Amazon, had 35 observations against it.

The DGCA though sought to address questions of safety standards at various airlines and said in a statement, “For airlines with extensive operations and large fleet sizes, a higher number of audit findings is entirely normal. The quantum and scale of their activities mean that such observations reflect the breadth and depth of their operations rather than any unusual lapse.”

It added that globally too aviation regulators “routinely” encounter similar patterns with major airlines.

With concerns about a hit in travel sentiment among passengers, the DGCA attempted to assuage concerns and said, “The DGCA reassures the travelling public that these processes are robust and that the presence of such findings is a testament to active regulatory oversight.”