Indian budget carrier SpiceJet said on Wednesday the country’s aviation regulator has asked 90 pilots belonging to the airline to restrain from flying Boeing 737 MAX planes.
SpiceJet, which currently operates 11 MAX aircraft and has 144 pilots to fly them, said the pilots have been restricted from operating MAX jets until they undergo retraining to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s (DGCA) satisfaction, Reuters reported.
→ A Boeing 737 MAX for Shanghai Airlines Lands in China.
These pilots continue to remain available for other Boeing 737 aircraft and the restriction does not impact the operations of MAX aircraft whatsoever, a SpiceJet spokesperson said.
The airline is Boeing’s biggest customer in the South Asian nation for MAX planes.
The pilots need to retrain successfully and we will take strict action against those found responsible for the lapse, Arun Kumar, the directorate general at India’s air safety watchdog DGCA, said.
The regulator had cleared in August the 737 MAX aircraft to fly after a near two-and-a-half-year regulatory grounding following two fatal crashes in 2019.
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