|
|
|
Pilots term experience of DGCA regulations as "disappointing"
|
|
|
|
Top Stories |
|
|
|
|
SME Times News Bureau | 15 Sep, 2020
Pilot associations have told the
Civil Aviation Ministry that their experience with the Director General
of Civil Aviation (DGCA) over the last two decades has been
disappointing and that safety regulations are diluted to favour
commercial considerations of airline operators in the country.
The
Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) and the Indian Commercial Pilots Association
(ICPA) have sent their comments to the Ministry on the restructuring of
DGCA.
"We have close to two decades of experience both
interacting with and being regulated by DGCA. Our overall experience
sadly has been disappointing. We have seen multiple iterations of
important flight safety legislation being diluted to favour commercial
considerations of airline operators in the country," the pilots told the
ministry.
They added that at other times, DGCA has been over
zealous in regulation, resulting in victimisation of pilots or cabin
crew a lot more than achieving the intended flight safety objectives.
"Further,
there are significant cases of regulation to protect airline interests,
but rarely to protect the airline employees from mismanagement which is
chronic in Air India at least. Many of these have been/are under
challenge in courts of law throughout the country," they added.
Testing
the crew for alcohol before a flight is an important flight safety
requirement, which has been addressed adequately by the DGCA by asking
for mandatory testing before a flight and removal from duty if found
positive.
If a crew is found to be under the influence of
alcohol, the airline is given no leeway to punish this individual
administratively or allow any rehabilitation.
"The DGCA instead
jumps in immediately to make an example of the individual through these
draconian punishments. Other regulators handle this subject with a lot
more empathy," the pilots added.
The service conditions between
the airline operators and their employees with regard to resignation is
an internal airline matter. That has not stopped the DGCA from coming up
with regulations requiring pilots to give at least six months' notice
before resigning from an airline. The same has been increased to one
year now, which is under challenge in the Delhi High Court.
"It
effectively forces a pilot to keep working in an airline while obviously
unsatisfied. This has no bearing with the safety of the travelling
public or arguably affects it negatively, a fact which has not deterred
DGCA from abusing its oversight," the pilots said.
The pilots
added that the DGCA is currently headed by an IAS officer. But the
aviation industry is unique and highly technical and cannot be treated
like a generic government department.
"At the helm of DGCA there
must be a technocrat with relevant experience and qualifications.
Without this crucial reform, no amount of restructuring will change the
way DGCA operates," the pilots said.
Although the DGCA is an arm
of the Civil Aviation Ministry, it must have complete operational
independence to exercise objective oversight on civil aviation in India.
It cannot be the judge, jury and executioner at the same time, the
pilots said.
Any technical legislation proposed by the DGCA must
be based on credible scientific research to be made available in the
public domain. It is important to comply with the ICAO recommendations
but at the same time, regulations must be tailored to the Indian
aviation scenario, which is not possible by cherry picking other
regulators, the pilots maintained.
Once a new legislation is
issued by the DGCA, there must be a dedicated team to get it running
smoothly and amend the regulations to address any unforeseen issues by
closely working with all the affected stakeholders.
This team
must actively seek feedback and review the on ground effectiveness
ofthese regulation periodically to tackle emerging issues and keep
legislation up to date, the pilots said.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Customs Exchange Rates |
Currency |
Import |
Export |
US Dollar
|
66.20
|
64.50 |
UK Pound
|
87.50
|
84.65 |
Euro
|
78.25
|
75.65 |
Japanese
Yen |
58.85 |
56.85 |
As on 13 Aug, 2022 |
|
|
Daily Poll |
|
|
PM Modi's recent US visit to redefine India-US bilateral relations |
|
|
|
|
|
Commented Stories |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|