Follows action by the FDA.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has downgraded India from a Category I nation to Category II, the latest in a string of recent incidents that has seen the US degrade standards in India for various reasons.
The FAA conducted two audits of India’s commercial airline carries – Air India and Jet Airways chief among them – and determined that they did not meet international safety standards that are mandated by the International Civil Aviation Organization, which is part of the United Nations. Jet Airways stock closed 3.7% lower on Thursday, following the announcement.
Right now, India shares its Category II ranking with nations like Bangladesh, Serbia, and Ghana, among other such countries. A total of 81 countries that subscribe to FAA standards are classified as Category 1 out of 96 countries in total. While the immediate impact of the ruling is unclear in terms of how it will affect flights between the US and India, what is clear is that India will have to bring its airlines up to standards soon.
India has called the decision “very disappointing and surprising,” and has said they will bring everything to standard by March. There is no word on whether any US airports will drop flights from either airline, but that seems unlikely – currently Air India operates out of Chicago, New Jersey and New York, while Jet Airways operates only out of New York.
The FAA crackdown comes on the heels of last week’s decision by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to close a Ranbaxy plant in Toansa in Punjab due to poor factory standards. The severity of US federal agency action against plants in India could be an attempt by the US to downsize India – if it’s true, the timing couldn’t be worse.
The two countries are just now starting to cool off after the Devyani Khobragade incident that rocked the boat for the better part of a month. Indian Ambassador to the US S. Jaishankar has made statements to the effect that the US-India relationship is back on track for the foreseeable future, and the US Department of State has echoed that sentiment by allowing American envoys to begin travelling to India this month.