Following FAA’s Concerns, Aviation Watchdog DGCA Hires For 75 New Positions

Replying to a question raised in Rajya Sabha regarding hiring by Indian aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for Ministry of Civil Aviation stated that the agency has hired for 75 new positions, it had created last year.

“The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) accorded approval to DGCA to directly hire the FOIs from the market instead of going through the UPSC route while Department of Expenditure approved the proposal for paying remuneration to the FOIs at par with the industry,” said Sharma.

The decision was taken following FAA’s audit in December 2013, which was a follow-up of the audit carried out in September 2013. The US auditor Federation of Aviation Administration (FAA) had pointed out that DGCA did not have adequate number of Flight Operations Inspectors (FOIs) required for checking the worthiness of an aircraft.

Last year, the DGCA hired only 18 FOIs on full-time contract basis out of the approved 75 FOI positions. According to him, 40 positions have been created for FOIs for commercial aircraft while seven has been made for helicopters. Similarly, 17 Senior FOIs for airplanes have been appointed while three appointments have been made for helicopters.

He further added, “The government will appoint six and one Deputy FOIs for airplanes and helicopters respectively. While only one Chief FOI will be there for both aircrafts.”

Last year, the US auditor had raised doubts on DGCA’s performance as the industry watchdog. “The FAA had categorically pulled up DGCA for lack of adequate number of type-rated operations inspectors as we had been using the services of FOIs from the airlines themselves. This has actually compromised the quality of the inspection carried out by the regulator,” disclosed a senior official from the ministry.

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