India counters by giving warning on Dreamliner purchase.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: An upcoming audit of India’s aviation standards by America’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) could cause the agency to drop India down to a lower level on its ranking system.
The FAA is planning to do a thorough investigation of India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in the second week of December, just months after an audit conducted in September which uncovered an alarming 33 deficiencies occurring with India’s civil aviation oversight body.
The United Nations has also voiced concerns about how Indian airlines conduct themselves, having their International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) do their own audit even before the FAA’s first one. These audits are meant to assess if a country’s airlines have the necessary procedures and employees in place to properly operate in US airports. The ICAO did ultimately pass India, but said that standards have been steadily slipping over the past several years.
If India is downgraded to a Category 2 country by the FAA, it would mean that the country’s domestic airlines, namely Air India and Jet Airways, would no longer be allowed to fly into the US. It would also bar India from service expansions and code-sharing (when more than one airline share the same flight, meaning the airline selling the ticket may not actually be the airline whose plane is operated for the actual flight).
India, however, has apparently decided to stonewall the FAA by saying that their practices are fine, and that if another audit is to occur, then India will hold off on the receiving deliveries of a fleet of 27 Boeing 787 Dreamliners that Air India has ordered.
The airliner has a $6 billion purchase order for 27 Dreamliners from Boeing, of which six have been delivered. India is saying that if its airlines are troubled further, it will institute a one-year ban on Dreamliner deliveries, intending to hurt the America by not paying for products it doesn’t receive.
India’s Aviation Minister, Ajit Singh, was told during a visit to Washington, DC in October that India would be further investigated to make sure it was abiding by international guidelines for air travel and safety. It will be known soon whether or not the DCGA has actually taken the FAA’s and ICAO’s warnings to heart, or has applied only rudimentary changes to placate the international agencies for the time being.
To contact the author, email to deepakchitnis@americanbazaaronline.com