DGCA creating a number of posts to enhance safety oversight function: Scindia

New Delhi, Oct 23 The Civil Aviation Ministry is to “strengthen” the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) by creating a “substantial number of posts” to enhance safety oversight functions, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said in a letter to Priyanka Chaturvedi, a Rajya Sabha MP.

In the letter dated October 21, Scindia says, the DGCA “continues to take pro-active measures to ensure that the level of safety standards is maintained” by airlines. “In case of any non-compliance, DGCA ensures that appropriate enforcement action is taken,” he wrote.

In a previous letter, Chaturvedi had raised concerns about the appearance of smoke in the cabin of a Goa–Hyderabad SpiceJet aircraft and about non-compliance of safety and emergency protocols by the airline.

Scindia said action was taken against SpiceJet, which included reducing the number of departures to 50 per cent of the schedule (till October 28); the annual surveillance plan for the airline was also increased to 47 in 2022-23 (as against 33 in 2019- 20).

“In 2022-23, 202 surveillance inspections have been completed so far,” Scindia wrote, adding that the “DGCA is keeping a close watch on the situation, and will take appropriate action to avert any untoward incident.”

COMMENT NOW