US aviation regulator wants India to fix staffing gaps by June

New Delhi: US aviation regulator, the Federal Aviation Authority, or FAA, has completed the second stage of a review of its Indian counterpart, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, or DGCA, and has given it time until June to strengthen staffing before it takes any action.
The FAA review, the second such assessment since December, covered safety procedures implemented by DGCA and checked if they met benchmark standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization, or Icao.
The review could potentially have resulted in a downgrade by FAA and adversely affected Indian carriers, especially National Aviation Co. of India Ltd-run Air India, as it would deny permission for any new flight to the US as also effectively block new commercial agreements between carriers of the two countries. Going by Icao norms, India currently enjoys a so-called Category I status indicating the highest class of safety. It risked being downgraded to Category II in the review concluded earlier this month. Israel was the most recent country to be downgraded to Category II late last year.
“The threat of downgrade has passed for now,” said a senior civil aviation ministry official, who asked not be identified.
In its December review, FAA had found DGCA lacking in the human resources pool, especially in staffing related to safety oversight. It completed the second round between 16 and 20 March.
But the process is far from complete, said a DGCA official, who too requested anonymity, adding that a final call on the downgrade will be taken by FAA in June. Between then and now, several discussions will take place, he added.
30/03/09 Tarun Shukla/Livemint

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Categories: Foreign Mar 2009, Indian Aviation- In General Mar 2009, Safety Mar 2009