DGCA to dispense service of AI officer involved in salary scam (IANS Special)

New Delhi, June 28 (IANS) The Directorate General for Civil Aviation (DGCA) has decided to dispense off the service of the Air India Chief Flight Operations Inspector (CFOI), who allegedly drew salary from both the national carrier and the DGCA for two years after being deputed at the aviation regulator, sources said.

He is likely to be sent back to Air India as the contract ends on June 30, according to highly placed sources.

The officer was reportedly a joint manager in the national carrier till January 2017 and was then deputed in DGCA. The alleged scam came to light in January last year.

Following the claims, Air India conducted an internal enquiry before urging the DGCA in June last year to relieve the CFOI, so that the airline could bring him back and investigate the allegations. However, the DGCA did not agree to the request then.

There are, however, contentions regarding the alleged scam. A person in the know said that this matter has complications and a lot of effort would have to be made to resolve it internally. “When the pilot is returning the extra payments he had received, then there is no point of an investigation left,” the source said. Several people, however, have different opinions.

The money owed by the official concerned is also disputed. Air India last year issued a showcause notice to the CFOI for receiving a gross salary of Rs 2.8 crore from the airline, when he was employed with the DGCA.

Sources, on the other side of the divide, also said that the official concerned has paid around Rs 90 lakh to Air India in two instalments after the alleged scam came to light and the airline expects to make full recovery soon.

–IANS

biz team/sn/arm