India may renew US firm's contract after air safety ranking upgrade

The Wicks Group had helped the country restore its air safety ranking

India is examining to renew the contract of the US-based consulting firm The Wicks Group which had helped the country restore its air safety ranking on Monday.

India’s aviation regulator Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had appointed The Wicks Group on a one-year contract last year after the Federation of Aviation Administration (FAA), the US aviation regulator, had downgraded country’s safety ranking to Category-II. The contract, under a bilateral assistance programme funded by the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), is set to expire in June this year.

On Monday, the FAA had restored India’s air safety ratings to Category-I after 14 months, implying the country is meeting the international standards in terms of civil aviation safety oversight. The Wicks Group had assisted the DGCA in providing technical guidance and consulting services. The US regulator had asked the Indian authorities to work on around 20 parameters.

“As of now, we haven’t taken a decision on renewing the contract. But we may consider it. The group may also be keen on an extension after the recent upgrade,” said a senior aviation ministry official on condition of anonymity.

Both USTDA and Wicks Group did not respond to an e-mail query.

Although the FAA has restored the ratings, it is not yet clear whether the regulator made any recommendations in order to maintain the Category-I status.

“We do not have anything to add beyond what we have in the news release. Any particulars about the process, recommendations, and the appointment of a technical officer should be addressed by the DGCA,” FAA spokesperson Alison Duquette said in an e-mail query to Business Standard.

Government sources said the FAA hasn’t made any set of recommendations but added that the DGCA will take continuous steps to maintain the compliance as per international norms.

Civil Aviation Minister P Ashok Gajapathi Raju had said on Monday the next task for the government would be to be “consistent to maintain the Category-I status.”

The Wicks Group termed the recent upgrade by the US regulator as “noteworthy” in a press statement over its official website. “The Category-I achievement is noteworthy due to the compressed time period in which it was accomplished, and the size and scale of the DGCA organization overseeing an aviation environment as large as the one present in India,” the aviation consultancy firm said.

According to The Wicks Group, it undertook a comprehensive work plan to address the deficiencies pointed out by the US aviation regulator in its 2013 audit.

This comprehensive work plan of the consultancy firm looked into certification of air operators and aviation training organizations, training of newly hired operations inspectors and the existing inspectors.

The group also helped the country improve regulations and guidance materials in accordance with international norms. In addition to this, the DGCA was guided in improving the organizational structures.

The consultancy group has assisted six countries in achieving or maintaining an existing Category-I rating in the last decade.

The recent upgrade will help Air India and Jet Airways, the two airlines currently flying to the US, to increase their flight services to that country. It will also help the airlines to enter into agreements with American carriers through code-share to expand operations.

In January last year, the FAA had downgraded India to Category-II after the country was found non-compliant in meeting the international safety standard. This had impacted India’s aviation sector as no new flights could fly to the US and the airlines could also not tie up with American carriers. The existing aircrafts flying to the US were also under increased scrutiny by the FAA.