January 4, 2013
NEW DELHI: In a gross violation of its own rules, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has senior management pilots from airlines working for it as seconded flight operations inspectors (FOIs).
Indian aviation watchdog, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation
January 4, 2013
NEW DELHI: In a gross violation of its own rules, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has senior management pilots from airlines working for it as seconded flight operations inspectors (FOIs).
Indian aviation watchdog, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation
This makes a mockery of a civil aviation requirement of the DGCA (Section 8, Series A, Part III, 6.1) which states that an FOI "shall have no management responsibilities in his airline nor in any way be associated with pilot associations/unions, etc. during his tenure, to avoid clash of interests".
These FOIs are mainly examiners in airlines, having at least 5,000 hours of flying. They're selected by a DGCA panel to help it with inspections of planes, route checks of pilots, etc.
Shockingly, out of the list of 19 seconded FOIs on DGCA's website, many hold managerial positions in airlines, as vice-presidents, general managers or chief pilots, making it a clear case of conflict of interest.
While these FOIs are supposed to inspect planes other than their own airlines, it isn't unusual for them to favor each other and their airlines and turn a Nelson's eye to snags, incidents and flight-time and duty-time limitation violations.
Arun Mishra, the DG of DGCA, claims that when his organization took some of these FOIs, they were non-management examiners but were promoted by the airline later. So why didn't the DGCA remove them then and infuse fresh blood? After all, their deputation is meant for two years. "We will relook this FOI issue," promised Mishra.
The post of seconded FOIs was formed in 2009. The DGCA has five FOIs of its own who are selected from AI and they check both scheduled and non-scheduled flights. But as this number was then grossly inadequate to inspect some 1,600 planes in India, the DGCA asked airlines to pitch in with their personnel. These pilots are paid by the airline and fly for it too. But airlines in a smart move have sent management pilots and can, therefore, do their bidding.
Courtesy: TOI
