DGCA wants powers like funding, global peerage to plug shortcomings

India’s aviation regulator is pushing for financial and staffing autonomy similar to its counterparts in Europe, Britain and the US, as it looks to strengthen oversight and keep pace with the demands of the fast-growing air travel sector.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation, or DGCA, wants the right to recruit freely and offer competitive salaries to attract qualified professionals, people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity citing regulations. He said it is also seeking increased funding to support regular training programs for its employees.

The demand for autonomy underlines the regulator’s assessment that it needs to increase and strengthen oversight of the world’s third-largest domestic aviation market. The lack of any capability in the DGCA also risks increasing concerns about its ability to ensure safety – concerns heightened following the recent Air India crash that killed all but one passenger and triggered a system-wide audit.

Currently, the Indian regulator operates with limited manpower resources and funding that is a fraction of what its global counterparts receive.

As of July, the DGCA had filled only 553 of the 1,063 technical posts and appointed 4,295 air traffic controllers, the people said. In contrast, the US Federal Aviation Administration has 46,170 employees, including 14,000 controllers and 7,000 safety inspectors.

He said for the year ending March 31, the DGCA has been allocated just $38 million, while the FAA was allocated $23.1 billion in fiscal year 2024. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency, or EASA,’s 2024 allocation was eight times that of its Indian counterpart, while the UK Civil Aviation Authority got about six times the DGCA’s current allocation in 2023, the people said.

The DGCA and India’s aviation ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comments.

Unlike the DGCA, which works under India’s civil aviation ministry, the CAA and EASA are independent bodies, the people said. The FAA has relatively limited autonomy under the U.S. Department of Transportation, he said.

India’s aviation sector has grown steadily over the past decade, with passenger numbers more than doubling from 116 million to 234 million and aircraft fleet size increasing by more than 100% to 841.

increasing workload

Indian carriers have ordered more than 1,300 aircraft – one of the largest order books from any country – indicating that the regulator’s workload is set to increase in the coming years.

The Indian aviation regulator also lacks formal training modules, and lack of funding has hampered efforts to develop specialized programs in collaboration with domestic and international institutions.

This has created challenges in deploying qualified inspectors across the country, especially for certain types of aircraft based in areas without trained personnel, the people said.

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