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Journalism of Courage
In an embarrassment of sorts for India’s flag carrier Air-India, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has withdrawn the International Operations Safety Audit (IOSA) certificate from the Maharaja after it failed an audit.
Air-India had become member of the IATA Operational Safety Audit programme in 2004. It, however, failed the recent audit for not meeting requirement in training for its new fleet. While this will not affect current operations and also does not mean that its aircraft are unsafe to fly, it could have an adverse impact to the airline’s alliance with other international carriers like Lufthansa.
Official sources said the certificate given after the audit is “optional and not mandatory”. The audit is conducted on various sections of an airline and “it is possible that one of them may have failed the test”, they said, adding the IATA gave time to airlines to rectify deficiencies.
