Indian civil aviation ministry has said country’s aviation safety record is above global average.
New Delhi, Feb 1: With United States aviation regulator Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) downgrading India’s safety rating, Indian civil aviation ministry has said country’s aviation safety record is above global average.
FAA has lowered Indian rating 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).
According to experts, 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 US and additional checks will be imposed on existing flights of Air India and Jet Airways when they land in the US.
‘India cannot start new service to US’
Experts said Indian 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.”
Indian 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.
He said he was hopeful that FAA would review its stand after DGCA completed the training of its inspection officers by March.
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.
‘India’s civil aviation safety records above global average’
India’s civilian aviation ministry official said the country’s aviation safety record was above global average.
“International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Assessment of India on Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) is much above the global average. Under USOAP, ICAO has identified eight critical elements viz. legislation, organisation, licensing, operation, airworthiness, accident investigation, air navigation and aerodromes,” an official of Indian civilian aviation ministry said.
He said as per ICAO 2013 Safety Report based on USOAP audit results as on December 31, 2012, India figures among the nations having effective implementation above the global average, which is 61%. India’s Effective Implementation stands at 79.1%.
The official said only area in which India lacks marginally in effective implementation of critical element is `organisation’. “For this, India has already created 75 posts of Chief Flight Operations Inspector (CFOI), Deputy CFOIs, Senior CFOIs and FOIs. After the recruitment, it is expected that effective implementation in this element also would rise much above the global average. In fact, in legislation even USA (80.95) is below India (85.71)”.
A brief comparison of India’s status as on 31st December, 2012 with the global safety is given below:-
Critical Elements Effective Implementation
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Global Average (as on 31 Dec’12) | Global Average (as on date) | India’s Status (as on 31 Dec’12) | |
| Legislation | 70.0 | 66.9 | 85.7 |
| Organisation | 63.0 | 63.5 | 57.1 |
| Licensing | 71.0 | 71.5 | 89.6 |
| Operation | 66.0 | 66.0 | 87.7 |
| Airworthiness | 72.0 | 72.9 | 91.1 |
| Accident Investigation | 51.0 | 53.6 | 75.3 |
| Air Navigation | 53.0 | 54.7 | 55.8 |
| Aerodromes | 58.0 | 57.7 | 87.4 |
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Asia News/ NationalTurk India News
