Civil aviation experts are not surprised by the Federal Aviation Authority's (FAA) decision to downgrade Indian civil aviation, dropping it from Category I to Category II. The US aviation watchdog had pointed out 31 inadequacies in Indian air safety and maintenance standards some time back. The government had gone for a year-long audit and had been taking hasty steps to overcome them, but it was clearly not enough.
The move essentially puts the brakes on all expansion plans of Indian carriers as far as the US is concerned. Current Indian flights operating to the US will be subjected to greater scrutiny. Also, Indian carriers will not be able to put their numbers onto the code share flights, severely limiting the advantages would have accrued to Air India after its impending membership of Star Alliance. So too Jet will not get code share of flights to the US with its Abu Dhabi partner Etihad.
The downgrade essentially means that the Indian regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has been found to be below par in meeting standards in technical expertise, trained manpower and maintaining records of air safety. It does not have skilled technical staff in the organisation.
01/02/14 Manisha Singhal/Business Today
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The move essentially puts the brakes on all expansion plans of Indian carriers as far as the US is concerned. Current Indian flights operating to the US will be subjected to greater scrutiny. Also, Indian carriers will not be able to put their numbers onto the code share flights, severely limiting the advantages would have accrued to Air India after its impending membership of Star Alliance. So too Jet will not get code share of flights to the US with its Abu Dhabi partner Etihad.
The downgrade essentially means that the Indian regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has been found to be below par in meeting standards in technical expertise, trained manpower and maintaining records of air safety. It does not have skilled technical staff in the organisation.
01/02/14 Manisha Singhal/Business Today
