NEWS
The process of setting up a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), an administratively and financially autonomous body, which will regulate all civil aviation safety issues in India, is now in the final stages and a cabinet note on it is likely to be soon formalised. The CAA may be tasked with keeping a tab on the entire range of civil aviation activities—from supervising air traffic services and licensing to auditing the financial fitness of airlines. According to the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), E.K. Bharat Bhushan, a cabinet note is being prepared based on all the facts collected by his organisation. According to the DGCA, the CAA would be able to recruit professionals directly instead of having it routed through the UPSC.

VIEWS
In April 2000, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) circulated via their website a 5,500-word draft of the new Civil Aviation Policy inviting comments. The draft document was indeed comprehensive and progressive in content and covered every conceivable aspect of civil aviation in the country including the proposal for the constitution of a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The preamble to the concept described the purpose of the proposed organisation as “In the context of a multiplicity of airlines, airport operators (including private sector), and the possibility of oligopolistic practices, there is need for an autonomous regulatory authority which could work as a watchdog, as well as a facilitator for the sector, prescribe and enforce minimum standards for all agencies, settle disputes with regard to abuse of monopoly and ensure level playing field for all agencies. Therefore, a statutory autonomous Civil Aviation Authority will be constituted.” The basic objectives of setting up of the Authority will be to ensure aviation safety, security and effective regulation of air transport in the country in a liberalised environment.” All that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is supposed to do and more while functioning at a higher level of authority.

Nine years later in October 2009, in technical cooperation with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), a feasibility study to set up a CAA in the DGCA was commissioned to improve financial and administrative autonomy to discharge safety oversight functions more effectively. Thereafter, following the disastrous crash of an Air India Express aircraft in Mangalore on May 22, 2010, there was a sudden revival of concern for aviation safety and security as also of the need for effective regulation of air transport in the country. The proposal for the creation of CAA was then transferred to fast track.

At this point in time, while the news report quoted above says that the proposal is in the final stage, there are other reports that suggest that this is unlikely to happen any time soon. The process is undoubtedly not very simple as the government will be required to introduce appropriate legislation for the establishment of the CAA.

It appears that the feasibility study ordered in October 2009 has been received by the government but falls short of its expectations as the study recommends nothing more than cloning of models already in existence internationally. As in the opinion of the government this will not improve matters substantially, the Ministry of Civil Aviation is looking for a model to cater to the requirements of the civil aviation industry, specific to India. Also, since the primary objective of establishing a CAA is to enhance safety, the issue is regarded as a serious one and the government is apparently in no hurry to rush through with the process as it would like to obviate the possibility of the need for a spate of amendments soon after the law is enacted. The time frame for the proposal to set up a CAA, therefore, will continue to remain uncertain.