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India has been lowered to Category II of safety rankings from Category I. A Category II ranking means the Indian safety regulator does not meet standards set by UN agency International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
Director General of Civil Aviation Prabhat Kumar confirmed the development saying, “They (FAA) have downgraded India to Category II.” The downgrade, which clubs India with countries such as Zimbabwe and Indonesia in terms of safety, means Indian carriers would not be able to increase flights to the US and additional checks will be imposed on existing flights of Air India and Jet Airways when they land in the US.
| IMPLICATIONS OF THE RATING DOWNGRADE |
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CATEGORY I rating means the country’s civil aviation authority complies with International Civil Aviation Organization standards CATEGORY II rating means a country either lacks laws or regulations necessary to oversee air carriers in accordance with international standards, or that its civil aviation authority is deficient in one or more areas, such as technical expertise, trained personnel, record-keeping or inspection procedures. This is now the case with India. WITH INDIA’S INTERNATIONAL AVIATION SAFETY ASSESSMENT FALLING IN CATEGORY II, Indian air carriers cannot start new services to the United States, although they are allowed to maintain their existing services |
It would also impact code-share arrangements between Indian airlines and their American counterparts. According to its website, FAA does not support reciprocal code-share pacts between airlines from Category II nations and US carriers. Jet Airways has a code-share agreement with United Continental Holdings Inc.
“A big national embarrassment but it was expected. We could not get our act together for five years,’’ said Kapil Kaul, CEO of Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA).
Even as only Air India and Jet Airways currently fly to the US, the impact could spread to other airlines as regulators in other countries could replicate the move. “FAA’s downgrade typically has a domino effect. Safety regulators in the EU (EASA), Singapore (CAAS), Japan (CAB), the UAE (GCAA), etc may follow suit,” said Amber Dubey, partner and head, aerospace and defence, at global consultancy firm KPMG.
Dubey said the move could adversely impact Air India’s likely membership of the Star Alliance (as all US airlines that are members of the alliance would not want a Category II member). He said Jet’s plans to go global through the Abu Dhabi hub might suffer. IndiGo and SpiceJet may not be able to expand services globally. New airlines such as Tata-SIA and AirAsia may not be able to fly internationally even if the 5/20 rule is abolished. Under the rule, an airline must have already operated for five years in India and have 20 aircraft to be eligible to fly abroad.
“This will impact airports, air cargo, tourism and the hotel industry. All in all, it’s a black day in India’s aviation history. Corrective measures need to be taken on a war footing,” said Dubey.
Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh said he was disappointed with the downgrade but there was no need to think of any retaliatory steps. “This is very disappointing and surprising. The report has not taken into account the progress made since December," he said.
Singh said he was hopeful that FAA would review its stand after DGCA completed the training of its inspection officers by March. "In retrospect, obviously if we had acted sooner, the issue could have been resolved,” he admitted. Singh pointed out that all issues raised by FAA had been resolved, except two out of 33. He said according to FAA, 75 per cent of the safety requirements had been met whereas his view was that 95 per cent of them had been met. "One reason why we could not meet the requirements quickly is that domestic aviation has shown tremendous growth in the past five years and we could not hire enough trained people, especially on government salaries,” he said and claimed that the move would have no adverse effect on the FAA decision on the induction of Air India in Star Alliance.
On a possible impact on the orders for Boeing 787 planes being affected because of retaliatory action by India, the minister said, “I don't think there is any reason to even think of retaliation. I don't see any impact on Boeing 787 orders."
FAA has expressed concern over a lack of full-time flight operation inspectors in the DGCA. On Wednesday, the government had approved the creation of 75 crucial posts in the DGCA to carry out safety inspections of airlines and private charter companies. But the move did not come in time to stave off the downgrade. It has been decided to pay salaries to the new recruits at market-determined rates to attract good talent.
Till now, pilots and commanders were seconded from scheduled airlines to carry out such functions. These commanders and pilots were paid by the respective airlines and not by the DGCA. Due to that practice, there were possibilities of conflict of interest, a factor pointed out by FAA.
