India, Aug. 4 -- In the world of aviation, safety is sacrosanct. Every checklist, every simulator session, every pilot hour logged is underpinned by the singular pursuit of ensuring that aircraft operate within tightly controlled margins of safety. And yet, in some rare and paradoxical cases, an airline can reach a size where - even when its operations exhibit persistent safety lapses - it becomes virtually immune to the consequences that smaller entities would inevitably face. Air India is one such case.
A Crisis Hidden in Plain Sight
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), India's aviation regulator, recently flagged 51 safety violations by Air India in an audit conducted after the catastrophic crash of Flight AI171, a Boeing ...