Employees can make a voluntary declaration through the airlineās safety reporting platform, or through designated e-mail addresses
Tata Group-promoted Air India Express has introduced a voluntary self-declaration process for employees to report the use, misuse, dependence on or abuse of psychoactive substances, sources told businessline.
The move, said sources, is part of a structured and confidential safety reporting mechanism. According to sources, the initiative has been introduced in accordance with the Directorate General of Civil Aviationās (DGCA) civil aviation requirements (CAR).
The current CAR encourages crews to voluntarily declare any psychoactive substance use that may affect their fitness for duty and ability to safely perform assigned responsibilities. Accordingly, the airline has circulated a safety circular titled āSafety Circular 04 of 2026 – Self Declaration for Use of Psychoactive Substancesā among employees.
Under the process, employees can make a voluntary declaration through the airlineās safety reporting platform, or through designated e-mail addresses. The circular said that all self-declarations will be handled with strict confidentiality and shared only on a need-to-know basis with authorised personnel identified in the circular.
According to sources, the objective of the initiative is to promote safety, employee wellbeing, early intervention and recovery through a confidential and structured reporting process. The initiative is not a reaction to any specific incident, and does not indicate any specific issue within the airline, said sources.
Rather, they pointed out that it is a measure being positioned as a proactive safety and wellbeing initiative, aimed at strengthening the reporting culture and safety governance within the airline. Meanwhile, industry insiders said that other airlines may follow suit.
At present, the aviation industry has been rocked by a drug scandal after the pilot-in-command of the August 4 Air India Phuket-Delhi flight returned a non-negative preliminary screening result in a test for psychoactive substances. As of now, the results of the secondary test have not been officially confirmed.
The pilot was tested after he commanded the Air India flight operated on an Airbus A320neo registered VT-EXO. Notably, the aircraft suffered a sudden loss of altitude of around 300 feet during cruise before stabilising and landing safely in Delhi.
The incident caused injuries to 20 passengers and four crew members. Consequently, Air India Group is conducting mandatory screening of all its pilots for substances or medications not permitted under prevailing regulations.
Till now, two pilots of the Air India Group have returned non-negative preliminary (screening) test results for psychoactive substances as part of the ongoing mandatory testing exercise. However, confirmatory results are now awaited to establish the consumption of prohibited substances.
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