No FAA safety rating upgrade during Obama's visit; likely only by March

Fresh review will be conducted by FAA officials next month, two areas of concern have been underlined in December audit

Contrary to expectations, an upgrade of India’s air safety by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will not happen during US President Barack Obama’s visit here later this month. A return to the previous category-I rating, likely only by March, will depend on the results of a fresh review by FAA officials next month.

Senior officials in the civil aviation ministry told Business Standard FAA officials had pointed to two areas of concern during a safety audit in December last year. While the first was the fact that hiring 75 flight operation inspectors (FOIs) wasn’t completed, the second pertained to safety procedures.

“FAA officials had underlined some pending issues of a routine nature. We have 35 FOIs and expect to complete their hiring, as well as address other requirements, by January-end. The officials have said they will come again in mid-February for a review. So, we are hopeful the category-I status will be restored by March,” said a ministry official.

After an FAA audit of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), conducted under the US agency’s international aviation safety assessment programme in September 2013, FAA had raised 31 areas of concern. It had announced India didn’t comply with international standards, as codified under the Chicago Convention.

“The FAA downgrade has been an irritating slap on the face of India. It has not only brought shame, but also prevented Indian carriers from adding more routes in the US through direct flights or code shares. There was a domino effect expected in the European Union, the Association of South East Asian Nations and West Asia which, thankfully, did not happen. That might have taken Indian aviation back by a decade. One hopes an upgrade to category-I happens at the earliest. The government should use this as an opportunity to completely overhaul the DGCA’s financial and operational independence, infrastructure, staff capabilities and e-governance. The DGCA needs infusion of talent from the private sector on ‘perform or exit’ contracts,” said Amber Dubey, partner and India head of aerospace and defence, KPMG.

By January 2014, the FAA said the Indian government and the DGCA had resolved all but two of the negative findings, forcing the agency to relegate India’s air safety rating to category-II status. Apart from hurting business sentiment, the downgrade meant Indian carriers such as Air India and Jet Airways couldn’t add new US flights, while existing ones might face random checks by the FAA on US soil.

FAA’s primary concern related to hiring 75 FOIs at market-competitive salaries, not deputation from airlines. Temporary hiring, it said, led to conflict of interest and, consequently, inadequate safety oversight by the DGCA.