Directorate General of Civil Aviation for annual checks on airlines

New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has decided to conduct an annual scrutiny of the financial status of airlines, to be able to judge whether they are complying with all safety procedures.
It has sought extensive details from all airlines on an annual basis. The aviation regulator has made it clear that any expansion of fleet and operations, including grant of ‘air operator’s permit ‘ for all airlines shall be subject to mitigation of the potential risk factors identified during the financial surveillance by the operator, to the satisfaction of the DGCA.
The regulator has sought financial details such as instances of sale of assets, deferment of discretionary spending - capital expenditure, training, advertising — and even if an airline has lost valuable suppliers within 12 months.
It also wants a record of every airline’s accident rate per one lakh hours, if there has been any sudden or significant reduction in fleet, if the operator is continuously taking delivery of new aircraft, besides details on training schedules and regularity. DGCA also wants to be apprised if flights are getting delayed due to inadequate crew or due to significant or sudden fleet reduction.
“There is a need to carry out this evaluation to identify airlines in distress — either due to financial issues or operational issues — to ensure that safety oversight functions are not affected and also to pin-point changes in the operating environment conditions, which significantly alter the balance between resources and operations,” director general of civil aviation Nasim Zaidi said in the order.
22/07/10 Sindhu Bhattacharya/Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Jul 2010