Almost all airlines flout safety norms, says DGCA

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has hauled up virtually every airline in the country for continually flouting safety norms. Perhaps the most strongly indicted are IndiGo, India's most profitable airline; and Air India Express, the national carrier's low-cost arm.

Some of the breaches are of a serious nature, according to a financial audit report by the DGCA, and may lead to a regulatory review of the airline's expansion plans.

The civil aviation regulator has found that Air India Express, GoAir, IndiGo, Jet Airways, Kingfisher and SpiceJet are all rife with safety violations, according to sections of the media which have seen leaked copies of the regulator's report.

It said it has yet to examine Air India's international operations.

The report noted that the DGCA had been prompted to examine the airlines amid a ''background of severe financial stress being faced by almost all'' of the carriers.

The report was signed by Lalit Gupta, head of the aircraft engineering branch of the directorate, and E K Bharat Bhushan, the regulatory agency's top official.