The Director-General of Civil Aviation is working on a proposal to phase out the over 400 expat pilots/commanders on the rolls of various airlines in the country.

The new deadline is year 2013, according to the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Mr E. K. Bharat Bhushan.

MINIMUM LIMIT

While this would help more Indian co-pilots to get promoted as commanders, the DGCA is also seeking to raise the minimum limit of flying hours that a co-pilot needs to put in to make the grade.

The official notification is expected to be readied next month, Mr Bhushan said while taking exception to the practice of individual airlines resorting to arbitrarily reducing the minimum limit. Meanwhile, the office of DGCA is in the process of ‘migrating' to the status of the all-powerful Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

The CAA is mandated to regulate airfares and appoint ombudsmen to address consumer grievances.

NEW-LOOK DGCA

As of now, the DGCA is only a safety regulatory authority, he said. Given the huge growth potential in the sector, it has become crucial than ever before that the regulator be given more teeth to address passenger grievances, pull up errant airlines to regulate airfares and appoint ombudsmen to address consumer grievances.

The revamped DGCA would even have an appellate tribunal, which will hear appeals against its decisions. The process to give more powers to the DGCA was expedited after the Mangalore plane crash last year, which killed 158 people.

The turnaround plan for loss-making national carrier Air India is awaiting a decision from the Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by the Finance Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee.

TURNAROUND PLAN

It is for the GoM to take a call in the matter, Mr Bhushan said. This is a make-or-break situation for Air India, saddled as it is with a loss of Rs 7,000 crore according to the latest annual results.

The massive Rs 55,000-crore programme for acquiring 111 Boeing and Air Bus aircraft is sputtering ahead, with all but 27 of the machines having been delivered.

This has burnt a huge hole in airline finances with Rs 24,000 crore outstanding, along with Rs 20,000 crore in working capital debt and around Rs 5,000 crore in payables to vendors.

BUDGETARY SUPPORT

The turnaround plan provides for a rehabilitation package envisaging a budgetary support of Rs 8,000-9,000 crore over a period of the next five/six years.

The GoM has set up a committee with representatives from the Department of Economic Affairs, Department of Expenditure, Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Civil Aviation and the Planning Commission to examine the turnaround and the financial restructuring plan.

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