India’s aviation regulator reprimanded budget carrier Air India Express in mid-March for failing to replace critical components on one of its Airbus A320 aircraft within the deadline set by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency and for falsifying maintenance records to suggest the work had been completed, according to a confidential government memo seen by Reuters. The EASA directive, issued in 2023 for CFM International LEAP-1A engines, warned that manufacturing deficiencies in seals and rotating parts could lead to high-energy debris release and loss of aircraft control if not remedied. DGCA inspectors found the mandated modification had not been carried out on aircraft registration VT-ATD and that entries in the airline’s Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering Operating System had been altered. Air India Express, a subsidiary of Tata-owned Air India, told regulators it missed the replacement deadline during a software migration but carried out the work once the lapse was detected. The carrier said it has taken “remedial action and preventive measures,” including removing its quality manager and suspending the deputy continuing airworthiness manager. The disclosure deepens scrutiny of the group’s flight-safety practices following the June crash of an Air India Boeing Dreamliner that killed 241 of the 242 people on board, the worst commercial aviation disaster in a decade. This year DGCA has cited Air India or its subsidiary in multiple safety-violation cases, ranging from overdue escape-slide checks to breaches of pilot duty-time limits.