Aviation regulator mulls stricter fines, safety ranks for charter ops
Times of India
by SAURABH SINHAFebruary 25, 2026
AI-Generated Deep Dive Summary
India's aviation regulator is set to introduce stricter penalties and safety rankings for non-scheduled operator permit (NSOP) or charter/private jet operators following two recent crashes involving small charter aircraft that claimed 12 lives. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has proposed ranking these operators based on their safety records, which will be made public on its website. Operators must now disclose critical safety information, including aircraft age, maintenance history, and pilot experience, to ensure passengers are fully informed about the standards of the services they use.
The new measures aim to enforce a zero-tolerance policy toward safety compromises within the NSOP sector. Stricter penalties will be imposed for violations, with pilots found breaching flight duty time limitations or attempting unsafe landings facing up to five years suspension of their licenses.Operators failing to meet compliance standards will also have their licenses suspended. The regulator emphasized that safety must take precedence over commercial interests, and pilots' decisions to divert, delay, or cancel flights for safety reasons must be respected without commercial consequences.
The DGCA has identified non-adherence to standard operating procedures (SOPs), inadequate flight planning, and training deficiencies as key issues contributing to accidents. Enhanced oversight will include increased random audits of cockpit voice recorders, fuel records, and technical logs to detect unauthorized operations or data falsification. Accountable managers and senior leadership will be held personally responsible for systemic non-compliance, ensuring that safety lapses cannot simply be blamed on pilots.
Operators are also mandated to establish real-time weather update systems and strictly follow SOPs, with recurrent pilot training focusing more on weather awareness strategies and decision-making in challenging environments. The regulator has made it clear: NSOP operators must achieve 100% compliance with all norms or face losing their licenses. This tough stance reflects the government's commitment to improving aviation safety in India, particularly in the charter and private jet sector, following a series of high-profile incidents that have raised concerns about the industry's oversight.
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Originally published on Times of India on 2/25/2026