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Safety in a time of growth

India’s aviation industry continues its remarkable growth. Air traffic increased by 27 per cent last year and the number of aircraft has doubled over the past three years. As Indian skies become more crowded, regulating growth and ensuring air safety have become increasingly important. However, there are growing concerns within the industry that as regulatory authorities and airlines struggle to sustain this growth and hold on to their margins, safety is slipping in their list of priorities. While a shortage of pilots and trained personnel looms, airlines, particularly the low-cost carriers, continue to add new sectors and flights to tap new markets in the face of increasing competition. Airports are becoming crowded, and there has been a sharp rise in the number of ground accidents in recent months. Poorly maintained runways have also led to an increase in the number of overrun incidents.

What stands out is a lack of foresight and planning in handling growth in a vital sector. The big challenge before the Airports Authority of India (AAI) as well as the Civil Aviation Ministry that it works for is to ensure that safety is privileged in the pursuit of commercial growth. The very organisation of aviation authorities in the country raises troubling questions. Safety regulation is under the control of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which, like the AAI, works under the Civil Aviation Ministry. In the United States and the United Kingdom, safety monitoring and accident investigating authorities exist outside the framework of the government. In the U.S., the National Transportation Safety Board, and not the Federal Aviation Administration, monitors safety. The Board was set up in 1974 by the U. S. Congress with the power to make recommendations that “may be critical of or adverse to any agency or officials.” In India, it is impossible to envisage the DGCA hauling up its employers for violating safety regulations or irresponsibly handling growth. There is an imperative need for an independent authority that exists outside the banner of the Ministry. It is hardly reasonable to expect the licensing authority, entrusted with sustaining the industry’s expansion, to regulate — and not mindlessly promote — growth. Countries in the West might envy Indian aviation’s 30 per cent growth rate. But this has been aided by an environment that lacks real checks and balances. India, which is several years behind implementing internationally accepted standards of air safety, needs urgently to close the gap.

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