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Journalism of Courage
A new civil aviation regulator is welcome. Now the ministry must take a step back
The Union cabinets decision to replace the Directorate General of Civil Aviation DGCA with a new regulatory authority that will have greater financial and operational autonomy was overdue. A weak regulator,mired in controversy,is a serious problem for a civil aviation sector with an ambition to grow bigger,especially at a time when global perceptions of the economy are not optimistic. The proposed Civil Aviation Authority CAA,to be established in accordance with standards laid down by the UNs International Civil Aviation Organisation ICAO,is a step in the right direction.
Despite posting a loss of Rs 10,000 crore for FY 2011-12,the crisis-hit sector continues to invite competition and investment. But the ministry when it is not throwing good money after bad by providing a sovereign guarantee to Air Indias debts or bailing it out with taxpayers money,as with the Rs 30,000 crore package last year continues to interfere by,say,attaching riders to the number of aircraft private airlines can buy and thereby dictating which small airports they should serve. The ministry sat tight on AIs right of first refusal till it was abolished last year and private carriers were given the signal to expand international operations,just as the government prevented foreign carriers from holding equity in Indian airlines till last Septembers reforms. The ministry needs to step back. That alone will allow a freer growth of the civil aviation sector,the safety of whose operations the proposed CAA will oversee.
