'Worried' DGCA wants audit of 'financially strained' airlines

New Delhi: Worried that sharp deterioration in airlines’ financial health may put a question mark on safe flying, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has asked the government to prevent severely stressed Indian carriers from inducting more aircraft into their fleet. The restriction on getting new planes has been suggested for at least two big airlines and some smaller ones whose names figure on the worst financial condition list, till such time that they don’t meet all the safety regulations for existing fleet and their finances improve.
In addition, the regulator has also recommended a detailed financial audit of the severely strained airlines. This April, DGCA sent a detailed questionnaire to gauge the financial health of all Indian carriers. Based on that, highly placed sources say, airlines were scored on 35 parameters and then put into three categories — where no financial stress is visible; slightly strained, and severely strained.
‘‘We found this downturn has led to a mismatch in resources required for efficient and safe operations in some places. Following this, some decisions have been taken like having special checks for the deeply stressed airlines. This is not to say that they are unsafe to fly but that we are mounting special vigil on them to check their aircraft maintenance to ensure continued safe flights. However, both the ministry and DGCA are very concerned,’’ the sources said. Fears of airlines’ cutting corners came to fore when 2,500 checks led to detection of a whopping 3,000 violations.
27/09/09 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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