JetLite, MDLR, Paramount get safety rap

New Delhi: India’s aviation regulator has asked Jet Airways (India) Ltd’s low-cost subsidiary JetLite, Chennai-based Paramount Airways Pvt. Ltd and Gurgaon-based MDLR Airlines Pvt. Ltd to explain the lack of proper safety infrastructure and procedures followed by them during operations.
The show-cause notices by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) were issued after several surveillance checks by the regulator since the start of the year as part of an audit by the US aviation regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
AA completed its audit last month and maintained the highest safety level for India, abstaining from a downgrade that could have led to a complete freeze on the expansion of services to the US by Indian carriers.
The three carriers have been asked to explain various safety-related lapses, said a government official, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter. Mint has also reviewed documents that list the infractions.
Paramount Airways confirmed the DGCA notice and said it was moving to address the anomalies.
“Whatever DGCA has identified, majority of them we have complied with and we have also given them a schedule of specified completion dates,” a Paramount Airways spokesman said.
JetLite denied receiving any notice, while MDLR said it had sought time to make rectifications.
The show-cause notices don’t necessarily make the airlines unsafe to fly, but show that mandatory safety procedures, a key part of their functioning, were not followed as per stated guidelines when the checks were conducted.
08/10/09 Tarun Shukla/Live Mint

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Categories: JetLite Oct 2009, MDLR Oct 2008, Paramount Airways Oct 2009