-
DGCA plans to strengthen its regional offices
The civil aviation regulator in the country is decentralising its functions by strengthening its regional offices in Mumbai and Bengaluru as well as the one in New Delhi, in an effort to prepare itself for the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) audit scheduled for November.
“We are in the process of hiring, and will fill all 71 posts of flight operations inspectors (FOIs) at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) within one and a half months. Post the new hirings, we will also post FOIs at regional centres in Mumbai and Bengaluru. A regional office in Delhi, apart from the headquarters, will also be strengthened,” said a senior DGCA official, who did not want to be identified.
The official further said that they may look at strengthening offices in the eastern part of the country as well, when it becomes necessary in the future.
Analysts say that this move will help better regulations. “This move will surely help regulating the sector better. While the DGCA has now moved beyond Delhi to Mumbai and Bengaluru, it should also look at opening a centre in the eastern part of the country too,” said Shakti Lumba, an aviation expert, who had the experience of working as head of operations at a few airlines.
The regulator had earlier also planned to depute FOIs at these centres but could not as the instructors refused to move there.
They were actually hired for the headquarters, but when the DGCA insisted on sending them to other centres, they refused and resigned.
“That would not be a problem this time because we have hired them for these centres only.
They are being hired at these centres only and not to be placed at the headquarters,” said the official quoted above.
The ICAO audit scheduled for November will weigh aviation capabilities of the Indian aviation sector, which was the largest growing market in the world till a few months back.
In 2012, after an audit of the DGCA, ICAO placed India in its list of 13 worst-performing nations in terms of air safety, which had triggered an audit by the US aviation regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in 2014, which downgraded India’s ranking, citing a lack of adequate regulatory oversight. Dale Hawerchuk Womens Jersey
Share This
