India, Sept. 2 -- "Serious findings" were reported as the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) conducted safety audits of Indian carriers IndiGo, Air India, Akasa Air and SpiceJet ahead of a US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) assessment of India's civil aviation regulator oversight scheduled between November 16 and 20, people aware of the matter said on Tuesday.

The DGCA completed the safety audits of four airlines in August, three months before a five-member FAA team will visit India. "While the nature and details of the observations are unknown, serious findings in major airlines were observed during the exercise," said one of the people cited above. "The concerned airlines are expected to submit their responses to the DG...