Soon after Prabhat Kumar stepped in as head of the country's civil aviation regulatory body on January 1, 2014, US's Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) downgraded India's safety rating clubbing it with countries such as Ghana and Uruguay. The threat of a downgrade -primarily triggered by a shortage of manpower in the DGCA - had been looming large on India since 2009. A half-hearted attempt had been made by the government which hired 18 Flight Operations Inspectors (FOIs) in December last year, probably in hope of staving off the possible downgrade. But three months since, with Kumar assuming office as Director General Civil Aviation noticeable reforms have been introduced into the functioning mechanisms of the organisation.
Backed by a government approval to hire 75 inspectors at private-sector salaries, Kumar has moved with lightning speed and filled nearly 30 of the allotted posts. By May-end the final report addressing all concerns raised by FAA will also be concluded. Work is on to plug the remaining vacancies in the interim period.
Last month, with characteristic efficiency Kumar also attempted to sort out the mess in the murky world of business aircraft and helicopters by notifying detailed safety guidelines for a sector which has been grossly under-regulated previously. Giving teeth to the regulator, any violation of these guidelines would now invite penal action. If the charges are serious, the DGCA can even cancel the air operator's permit. Colleagues say Kumar found it disturbing that industry stakeholders paid little heed to the regulator's mandate, even when it came to crucial issues such a safety.
04/04/14 Sharmistha Mukherjee/Business Standard
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Backed by a government approval to hire 75 inspectors at private-sector salaries, Kumar has moved with lightning speed and filled nearly 30 of the allotted posts. By May-end the final report addressing all concerns raised by FAA will also be concluded. Work is on to plug the remaining vacancies in the interim period.
Last month, with characteristic efficiency Kumar also attempted to sort out the mess in the murky world of business aircraft and helicopters by notifying detailed safety guidelines for a sector which has been grossly under-regulated previously. Giving teeth to the regulator, any violation of these guidelines would now invite penal action. If the charges are serious, the DGCA can even cancel the air operator's permit. Colleagues say Kumar found it disturbing that industry stakeholders paid little heed to the regulator's mandate, even when it came to crucial issues such a safety.
04/04/14 Sharmistha Mukherjee/Business Standard
