Key US review of aviation safety oversight in India begins

New Delhi: The US aviation regulator will begin on Tuesday a final audit of its Indian counterpart, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), on safety oversight that will be key to the future international expansion plans of Indian airlines.
The two-day audit is the culmination of a review begun by the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) earlier this year after the International Civil Aviation Organization, or Icao, found India lacking in around 70 areas, including shortage of flight safety inspectors and other technical personnel.
Since the review began, no new direct flights to the US from India have taken off. No new code share agreements have been approved between Indian carriers such as Jet Airways (India) Ltd and National Aviation Co. of India Ltd-run Air India, and US airlines such as United Airlines and US Airways, according to officials at the DGCA and the civil aviation ministry.
Both Jet Airways and Air India connect cities in the US and have sought expansion of code-share agreements with US carriers that will depend on the audit. The outcome is also crucial for airlines such as SpiceJet Ltd and Paramount Airways Pvt. Ltd that are preparing to fly international routes starting next year.
Code sharing refers to a ticket marketing practice among airlines that allows carriers to share the two characters in codes used in airline reservation systems. This helps customers purchase a single ticket on a journey that has two flights such as a New Delhi-London leg and a London-New York one on two different airlines.
If the FAA downgrades its safety standards rating for India to so-called category II after completing the review, no new services by Indian carriers can be started to the US. Once placed in category II, no new code-share agreements can also be allowed. Climbing back to category I, the highest class of safety, could take months or years.
22/09/09 Tarun Shukla/Livemint

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