 "US team inspects air safety measures")
A senior Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) official told Business Standard consultations with the FAA team would continue on Tuesday.
This is the second time FAA has audited India's air safety following the downgrade in January 2014. India is hoping for a return to Category-I status. A review would occur only after FAA filed its inspection report in April, sources said. "The FAA team is likely to file its report by April 10 and we are hopeful of a review by the end of April," a senior ministry official said.
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FAA had lowered India to Category-II because of inadequate safety oversight. During its earlier visit in December, the FAA had flagged shortage of full-time flight operations inspectors and safety procedures.
Category II means India's aviation safety does not match international standards. Indian carriers like Air India and Jet Airways could not add new US flights, while existing ones faced more scrutiny by FAA inspectors in the US since the downgrade.
The Cabinet last year cleared the appointment of 75 full-time inspectors. However, till February, the DGCA has been able to appoint only 45. On March 27, the DGCA published 21 such job vacancies on its website.
On the day of the FAA team's visit, the home ministry asked the aviation ministry to revise air operator permits, sources said. The home ministry noted the delay was leading to losses and the process should be relaxed, an aviation ministry official said.
Following this, civil aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju asked the secretary to formulate timelines for clearing of AOPs to airlines to ensure "least pendency in the process," the source added.
Permits to Vistara were delayed last year, while Air India and Jet Airways had to go through complete re-certification in November-December.