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The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has put off transfers of flight operations inspectors from Delhi to Mumbai and Chennai following a threat of resignation by 12 of them.
About 20 inspectors, who are pilots hired on contract by the DGCA, were transferred to Mumbai and Chennai but they threatened to resign instead. The pilots complained the transfers were on short notice.
Alarmed, the DGCA has decided to defer the transfers. The appointment of the inspectors was crucial for maintaining India's air safety rating.
“There will be no forced posting. Only those who wish to go to other bases can take the transfer,” said a DGCA source. M Sathiyavathy, director-general of the DGCA, did not respond to a question texted to her mobile phone.
According to sources, the transfers are not the only reason for flight operations inspectors to be unhappy. The pilots were upset they could not fly to retain proficiency requirements, sources said. The DGCA requires a pilot to carry out at least three takeoffs and landings or a simulator check every 90 days to retain his proficiency rating on a particular type of aircraft. Other simulator checks for proficiency are required to keep a pilot’s licence valid. While the inspectors were undergoing simulator checks, they were not getting to operate flights, an assurance, sources said, given to them at the time of joining the DGCA.
A civil aviation ministry spokesperson said, “I am not aware about the development,” and directed questions to the DGCA.
The resignations would have been a setback for the DGCA, which is looking to maintain the top air safety ranking issued by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The FAA had upgraded India’s air safety ranking in April, 14 months after downgrading it, allowing Indian airlines to expand services to the US. The reason for the FAA downgrade was flight operations inspectors on deputation from airlines, which the US regulator felt led to a conflict of interest and thus inadequate safety oversight.
Since the downgrade, the DGCA created 75 posts for inspectors and hired 55 on contract for three years initially. However, after a slew of resignations, the DGCA might find difficult to fill up the posts before an audit in November. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) will visit India in November for a more comprehensive audit of the DGCA than that of the FAA. This will be ICAO’s third audit after 2006 and 2012.
An ICAO audit of the DGCA in December 2012 had prompted the FAA to conduct its own assessment of India’s compliance with standards, under its International Aviation Safety Assessments programme.
About 20 inspectors, who are pilots hired on contract by the DGCA, were transferred to Mumbai and Chennai but they threatened to resign instead. The pilots complained the transfers were on short notice.
Alarmed, the DGCA has decided to defer the transfers. The appointment of the inspectors was crucial for maintaining India's air safety rating.
“There will be no forced posting. Only those who wish to go to other bases can take the transfer,” said a DGCA source. M Sathiyavathy, director-general of the DGCA, did not respond to a question texted to her mobile phone.
According to sources, the transfers are not the only reason for flight operations inspectors to be unhappy. The pilots were upset they could not fly to retain proficiency requirements, sources said. The DGCA requires a pilot to carry out at least three takeoffs and landings or a simulator check every 90 days to retain his proficiency rating on a particular type of aircraft. Other simulator checks for proficiency are required to keep a pilot’s licence valid. While the inspectors were undergoing simulator checks, they were not getting to operate flights, an assurance, sources said, given to them at the time of joining the DGCA.
A civil aviation ministry spokesperson said, “I am not aware about the development,” and directed questions to the DGCA.
The resignations would have been a setback for the DGCA, which is looking to maintain the top air safety ranking issued by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The FAA had upgraded India’s air safety ranking in April, 14 months after downgrading it, allowing Indian airlines to expand services to the US. The reason for the FAA downgrade was flight operations inspectors on deputation from airlines, which the US regulator felt led to a conflict of interest and thus inadequate safety oversight.
Since the downgrade, the DGCA created 75 posts for inspectors and hired 55 on contract for three years initially. However, after a slew of resignations, the DGCA might find difficult to fill up the posts before an audit in November. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) will visit India in November for a more comprehensive audit of the DGCA than that of the FAA. This will be ICAO’s third audit after 2006 and 2012.
An ICAO audit of the DGCA in December 2012 had prompted the FAA to conduct its own assessment of India’s compliance with standards, under its International Aviation Safety Assessments programme.
