Representative image (Picture credit: PTI)
NEW DELHI: Following the recent IndiGo fiasco, the whip is now being cracked on Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) officials responsible for ensuring such schedule collapse did not take place.The in-charge of flight standards directorate (FSD) – which, among other roles, looks after flight duty time limitation of pilots and airlines’ flight operations – has been removed. Roles of some other key officials are also under the scanner, and “more action is on the cards”, sources said.An additional director, who was holding additional charge as director of FSD, has been relieved of the same and will now only look after the “airspace & air navigation service standards” wing. This officer has also been facing allegations of rising through regulatory ranks on the basis of a fake degree.After the crisis earlier this month – when an operational collapse affected 5,000 flights – four flight operations inspectors working in DGCA were sent back to their parent airline. However, they were largely seen as scapegoats.How much these actions help remains to be seen, as both aviation industry insiders and top govt officials admit that DGCA is in need of a complete revamp. Instead of an under-staffed body under the thumb of the aviation ministry, many reports on DGCA’s restructuring have called for an independent, autonomous and self-funded civil aviation authority on the lines of those in the US and Europe.“Throughout 2025, we have witnessed how out of depth our aviation agencies are. Whether it is the controversial probe of AI 171 crash, which has put a question mark on Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau or the crash of Delhi air traffic control, which did not show Airports Authority of India in a good light due to its delayed ATC modernisation programme,… each agency has a lot to answer for,” said aviation industry old-timers.
