FAA Downgrades India

In January this year, the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) downgraded India’s aviation safety rating on account of failure on the part of India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to put in place a proper mechanism of safety oversight.

Whether it is in the regime of pharmaceuticals, automobiles or the airline industry, in the recent past, when scrutinised by regulatory authorities, India has been discovered to be wanting across the board in respect of standards that have failed to reach the minimum levels stipulated internationally. In January this year, the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) downgraded India’s aviation safety rating on account of failure on the part of India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to put in place a proper mechanism of safety oversight. Under the International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) programme of the FAA, India now stands equated with Bangladesh, Barbados, Curacao, Ghana, Indonesia, Nicaragua, Philippines, Serbia, Saint Maarten, and Uruguay. Neither complimentary nor an inspiring development for a nation that claims to be emerging as a regional power and aspires to be a superpower in not too distant a future. As for its status in the global civil aviation industry, today, India ranks ninth. However, if rhetoric emanating frequently from the highest echelons of the civil aviation establishment is to be believed, over the next decade, India will graduate to the third slot. But at this point in time, the downgrade by the FAA will not only be a trauma for the airline industry in India but more importantly, it is a major source of national embarrassment.

There is no doubt that this step by the FAA will generate serious concerns among the travelling public about the safety standards of Indian carriers. However, what needs to be understood is that in fact, the downgrade does not mean that airlines in India are unsafe. This does not reflect on the management, efficiency or safety standards of the Indian carriers per se, but entirely on the structure and management of the regulatory authority the DGCA, that is expected to be a watchdog for the airline industry in India. However, somewhat tragically, it is the airline industry especially the leading legacy carriers such as Air India and Jet Airways as well as even those low-cost airlines that are now venturing into the international segment, that will truly bear the brunt of this decision by the FAA even while they are not to blame. The downgrade is symbolic of the culmination of incompetent management of the civil aviation industry at the level of the government and the indifferent approach of the political and bureaucratic leadership towards not only the airline industry but civil aviation as a whole in India.

While the private airlines in India have been engaged in an eternal struggle for survival in an extremely hostile business environment and several of these having perished in the process, the management of the national carrier, with collusion between the political leadership and bureaucratic establishment, have focused primarily on maximising private gains at the cost of the national carrier. The airline industry witnessed explosive growth in the wake of economic liberalisation in the early 1990s with a number of private carriers emerging on the scene. However, shackled in archaic policy framework, the industry was unable to sustain the momentum of growth. Despite the adversities, the second wave in the industry, spearheaded by the low-cost concept, began in the middle of the last decade and continues on its impressive growth trajectory especially after the upturn in the global economy after 2008. Unfortunately, the regulator of the civil aviation industry the DGCA continued to stagnate with deficiencies of manpower touching 40 per cent in manning in critical areas such as flight operations inspection. The DGCA resorted to compromise by hiring on a temporary basis, pilots who were employed by the very airlines they were required to inspect as Flight Operations Inspectors. Nothing could have been more anomalous than that.

During the inspections carried out a few years ago, the FAA had recorded their observations about inadequacy of flight inspection safety officers as well as their not being trained adequately to certify airworthiness of an airliner. The FAA had warned the DGCA of the possibility of downgrade if these inadequacies were not addressed soon enough. However, afflicted with bureaucratic lethargy that is characteristic of nearly all departments under the control of the Government of India, the DGCA did practically nothing about it. In the next round of inspection early in 2014, the FAA had no option but to downgrade the safety rating of the Indian airline industry. Apart from the stigma associated with the downgrade, it is a sad reflection on the regulatory authority and by implication, disconcerting failure of governance.

Finally, it took a rap on the knuckles by the FAA for DGCA to embark on a drive to recruit Flight Operations Inspectors on a massive scale offering lavish emoluments hitherto unheard of.