India S Aviation Regulator Bars 90 Spicejet Pilots From Flying Boeing Max Planes

Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register VENGALOURU, April 13 (Reuters) – Indian budget airline SpiceJet Ltd (SPJT.NS) said on Wednesday that the country’s aviation regulator had asked 90 pilots to stay away from Boeing 737 MAXs until they were retrained. SpiceJet, which currently operates 11 MAX aircraft and has 144 pilots to fly them, said pilots have been limited to handling jets until undergoing retraining for the General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Indian media reported that the restrictions were imposed after the discovery of defects in a simulator installation near Delhi, where they had received training for the Boeing aircraft. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Pilots continue to be available for other Boeing 737s and the restriction does not affect MAX operations, a SpiceJet spokesman said. The airline is Boeing’s largest customer in South Asia for MAX aircraft. “We are working closely with all parties involved, including our supplier and DGCA, to ensure that the maintenance and operation of this particular device complies with all regulatory requirements,” Boeing said in a statement. “We are committed to ensuring that our customers receive high quality simulation experiences in accordance with all regulations.” The pilots need to be successfully retrained and we will take strong action against those found responsible for the error, said Arun Kumar, director general of India’s DGCA air security watchdog. In August, the regulator approved the 737 MAX aircraft to fly after a regulatory landing of almost two and a half years after two deadly crashes in 2019. Read more As part of the condition for returning the aircraft to service, Boeing and regulators have agreed to step up pilot training to include simulator training. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Chandini Monnappa and Nallur Sethuraman in Bengaluru and Aditi Shah in New Delhi. curated by Uttaresh.V and Bernard Orr Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.