It’s a one-two punch on Indian airlines as safety concerns mount, even as service and manpower issues including pilots and crew shortage, flight delays and cancellations seem to acquire permanent status. On Wednesday, aviation regulator DGCA slapped a show-cause notice on SpiceJet following eight technical malfunctions in just 18 days. It pulled up the airline for failing to establish ‘safe, efficient and reliable air services,’ besides ‘poor internal safety oversight’ and ‘inadequate maintenance actions’.
IndiGo and Vistara too reported similar technical glitches such as engine failure, or smoke in the aircraft taking the count of mid-air safety incidents to 21 in a few months. Such recurring snags raise concerns about the airworthiness of the plane, denting passenger confidence. The Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, 2017 classify such occurrences as accidents, serious incidents and incidents. Usually, incidents don’t cause casualties, but passenger safety is paramount and as Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia tweeted, “even the smallest error hindering safety” cannot be ignored and thoroughly investigated and course-corrected. This is essential to prevent safety concerns from impeding the aviation sector’s recovery following the pandemic-induced loss of business. As it is, rising ATF prices and staff shortages are affecting its growth.
The Aircraft (Amendment) Bill, 2020 gave DGCA legal status to investigate aviation accidents and incidents and keep track of all aviation regulations besides enforcement of civil air regulations, air safety and airworthiness standards. A recent Parliamentary Standing Committee report flagged several issues of aviation safety and gave multiple recommendations, chief among them being stepping up spot checks, inspections, and audits to prevent the recurrence of avoidable technical glitches. Ironically, DGCA itself is short-staffed and needs qualified officials. It also requires urgent reforms including streamlining DGCA into a purely regulatory authority and hiving off its additional function as an investigator of accidents/incidents into a separate entity. This will align with international norms and be timely.