New DGCA head: Vikram Dev Dutt to lead aviation regulator

Vikram Dev Dutt will take over the charge of DGCA chief on February 28, 2023 (Representative image)

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of senior IAS officer Vikram Dev Dutt as the next director general in the Directorate of General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), a government release said on January 21.

Dutt, an IAS officer of 1993 batch of AGMUT (Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territory) cadre, is presently serving as the chairman and managing director of Air India Asset Holding Ltd (AIAHL). He will take over as the head of the aviation regulator on February 28, upon the superannuation of incumbent DGCA chief Arun Kumar.

Dutt's appointment will be in the "rank and pay of additional secretary to the Government of India", and he will take the charge "upon superannuation of Arun Kumar, IAS on 28.02.2023 by keeping the Recruitment Rules of the post in abeyance," the release stated.

Kumar, a 1989-batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre, was leading the DGCA as its director general since July 2019.

Dutt, his successor, was the last government-appointed chairman and managing director of Air India, the erstwhile national carrier which was sold to Tata group last year. Dutt was given the Air India CMD charge in January 2022, days before the acquisition deal was brought into effect.

In April, he was appointed as the CMD of AIAHL, a special purpose vehicle formed by the government for the transfer of non-core assets of Air India.

Earlier, Dutt had served in various roles, including principal secretary for finance in the government of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, secretary of tourism in the government of Goa, managing director of India Tourism Development Corporation, and principal secretary for the health and family welfare department of the Delhi government.