All safety issues addressed: DGCA to FAA

Warned of a downgrade by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), aviation regulator DGCA has filed a status report with its US counterpart, saying concerns over all aviation safety issues have been addressed, official sources said today.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation filed its report with FAA last night after the Union Cabinet approved a Civil Aviation Ministry proposal to allow the regulator to hire a large number of experienced professional and technical hands directly from the market instead of going through the UPSC recruitment route and pay them salaries at market rates. Indian Ambassador to the US, S Jaishankar, was also in constant touch with the US Department of Transport on the issue, the sources told PTI, adding that the seven remaining safety issues have now been addressed.

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The FAA is likely to submit its safety audit report on DGCA in the next few days and send a team to India in a few weeks to ascertain whether all the concerns raised by them have been addressed, the sources said. After two rounds of audit in September and December last, FAA had mentioned 33 issues in which deficiencies found and asked DGCA to take corrective measures. DGCA had then taken expeditious steps to close all issues, barring seven.

The sources said now the remaining ones too have been taken care of with the Cabinet yesterday clearing the proposal to allow DGCA recruit 75 senior technical staffers to meet the needs of a burgeoning air traffic, the sources said. On the basis of its safety sudit report, FAA would decide whether to downgrade India's aviation safety status or maintain it at the current top Category-I.