Indian carriers in trouble as DGCA faces resource crunch

Indian aviation may just not have seen enough of turmoil yet. If warnings by the Centre for Aviation or CAPA in its latest report are anything to go by, India risks a downgrade from its Category 1 to a Category 2 status because the regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), lacks enough manpower and finance to adhere to international safety standards. This will mean Indian carriers operating to the US will be placed under severe restrictions.
Such a downgrade would amount to huge international embarrassment as it would mean that every aircraft of Indian carriers like Air India and Jet Airways will be subject to intense safety checks by US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) technicians each time it lands in any US city.
India is, as per bilateral agreements, committed to follow international safety standards laid down by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) under the FAA's International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) programme. Category 2 nations are those that violate ICAO norms. As a Category 2 nation, India will join the ranks of Serbia, the Ukraine, Indonesia and Guyana.
CAPA believes that resultant safety concerns could lead the US FAA to once again threaten, as it did in 2009, to downgrade India to a Category 2 nation.
24/05/12 Mumbai Mirror

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General May 2012