The directorate General of Civil Aviation DGCA has suspended Air India's Boeing simulator facility in Mumbai after finding certain lapses during a spot check, a DGCA official said.
The pilots, who were scheduled to do refresher courses at Mumbai's facility, will now not be able to do so.
This would affect their ability to run commercial flights, affecting their licenses and other certifications.
Air India's long-haul international flights are primarily operated by Boeing planes.
If pilot licences and certifications are lapsed, international flights could be impacted.
Air India did not respond to questions sent by Business Standard.
Air India has been directed to utilise the ATO Approved Training Organisation only after suitably addressing the concerns of DGCA raised following a spot-check of the simulator, a senior DGCA official told the newspaper.
The pilots have to complete a licence renewal every six months using a simulator.
They also have to participate in certification courses - instrument rating, ground training refresher, aircraft security - every year using a simulator.
If certification courses and license renewals are not performed, a pilot cannot operate a commercial flight.
Air India's Mumbai simulator facility is used by Boeing pilots, while its Hyderabad facility is used by Airbus pilots.
Air India has 74 Airbus aircrafts and 53 Boeing planes in its fleet, according to air analytics firm Cirium.
The Air India official said that these refresher programs are not conducted on a daily basis.
There is no cause for concern as the training of pilots is scheduled annually.
This is a routine exercise in the aviation industry, a part of checks and balances in all airlines. We are taking corrective action on the recent development, the airline said, and it has enough pilots to tide over this process of corrective action.
In February, Air India placed an order for 470 planes: 250 with European plane maker Airbus and 220 with Boeing.
The order is the second-largest single-engine aircraft purchase globally, according to the International Air Transport Association.
The order with Boeing is for the 190 B 737 Max, 20 B 787 s and 10 B 777 s aircraft.
A 350, B 777, and B 787 are large body aircraft that have bigger fuel tanks, enabling them to traverse long distances such as India-North America routes.
In January last year, the Tata Group took control of Air India. In FY23, Air India's net loss jumped to Rs 11,387 from Rs 19.16 in the same period last year. 96 crore worth of shares were acquired by the government last year.