DGCA fails to impress, FAA nod unlikely for aviation safety
The Indian civil aviation industry’s safety rating is unlikely to be upgraded to Category I by the American Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) after being downgraded to Category II in December 2013, with the US aviation authority indicating its dissatisfaction with measures taken by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
The Indian aviation regulator’s self-imposed deadline to put measures in place for a category upgrade ran out earlier this month, and an FAA team is slated to visit between December 8 and 12 to audit Indian aviation safety records.
The FAA downgrade has restricted Air India and Jet Airways from expanding to US cities and to enter code-sharing agreements with domestic US carriers. FAA spokesperson Alison Duquette said the downgrade reversal is a time-consuming process.
DGCA chief Prabhat Kumar said, “We have obtained approvals from the government for 75 posts of flight operations inspector (FOI) in DGCA, and have recruited people. There are 750 planes operating in the country, and we will have one FOI for every 10 planes to resolve concerns raised after audits by ICAO and FAA last year.”
Nevertheless, DGCA is confident of getting FAA’s approval. “Our team made a detailed presentation to the European Air Safety Authority (EASA) recently, and they were satisfied,” DGCA joint director-general Lalit Gupta said.According to officials, DGCA believes thatsince EASA and FAA share common framework and safety requirements, the two would share reports and FAA would get to know of measures taken by them.
The Indian aviation regulator’s self-imposed deadline to put measures in place for a category upgrade ran out earlier this month, and an FAA team is slated to visit between December 8 and 12 to audit Indian aviation safety records.
The FAA downgrade has restricted Air India and Jet Airways from expanding to US cities and to enter code-sharing agreements with domestic US carriers. FAA spokesperson Alison Duquette said the downgrade reversal is a time-consuming process.
“FAA will begin a reassessment of India’s civil aviation authority in December, which may take several months,” she said. Ghana, Indonesia, Uruguay and Zimbabwe are other countries with Category II status.
DGCA chief Prabhat Kumar said, “We have obtained approvals from the government for 75 posts of flight operations inspector (FOI) in DGCA, and have recruited people. There are 750 planes operating in the country, and we will have one FOI for every 10 planes to resolve concerns raised after audits by ICAO and FAA last year.”
Nevertheless, DGCA is confident of getting FAA’s approval. “Our team made a detailed presentation to the European Air Safety Authority (EASA) recently, and they were satisfied,” DGCA joint director-general Lalit Gupta said.According to officials, DGCA believes thatsince EASA and FAA share common framework and safety requirements, the two would share reports and FAA would get to know of measures taken by them.
