India’s Growing Aircraft Fleet Prompts Regulator To Hire More Employees

India’s aviation watchdog, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), is reportedly feeling a staff crunch with India’s aviation sector expanding rapidly. The regulator monitors all airlines, ensuring that rules are followed, and corrective measures are taken. But with no hiring done since 2014, the DGCA feels that now’s the time to invite job applications.
The DGCA is looking to hire more people to keep a check on India’s airlines, which have been growing their fleet size steadily over the years. According to a report by The Economic Times (ET), people aware of the plans have said that the regulator is planning to hire permanent staff for about 410 positions – the highest in a decade.
It was in 2014 when the DGCA last hired permanent staff members, but since then, India’s fleet has almost doubled from 400 to 700. Naturally, the current workforce feels quite overworked with more daily flights, including those of offshore carriers.
Even the 2014 hiring was prompted by the FAA’s inspection of India, in which it downgraded the country. The workload has increased tremendously in the last eight years, and it seems logical to hire more people to keep up with the sector’s growth.
ET reports that the DGCA has around 1,300 employees. Of these, 634 work in the departments that look into flight safety and airworthiness of the 700 commercial aircraft. In comparison, the FAA has around 45,000 workers for around 7,700 commercial planes.
India is projected to add 100 aircraft annually as airlines look to expand business. Last month, more than 10 million flyers took to the skies in India as domestic traffic grew 64% year on year. The DGCA needs more staff to bolster its surveillance capabilities and maintain a good safety record in the country.
27/09/22 Gaurav Joshi/Simple Flying