NEW DELHI: Aviation regulator DGCA faces the uphill task of issuing licenses to 2000-odd Air Traffic Controllers (ATCOs) and over 60 aerodromes ahead of the audit by UN aviation body, International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), later this year, sources said.
The ICAO audit, the third in last nine years, would take place in November this year and cover issues such as aerodrome operations, air traffic control, airports, and air navigation mechanism.
"As far as licensing to ATCOs is concerned, while the first stage - collecting data about the each ATC personnel - was completed long back, the second stage, which involves comprehensive health check-ups, has just began.
"Licenses would be issued by the DGCA to ATCOs only after this exercise gets completed," sources told PTI here.
ATC is part of the air traffic management and comes under Airports Authority of India. There are around 2,300 ATCOs manning the Indian airspace at present.
DGCA head M Sathiyavathy had said that India was bracing up for more reviews by international agencies after getting back the top aviation safety rating from the US aviation watchdog, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
"The audit of our civil aviation sector is not ending with the FAA audit. We will be briefing the European Aviation safety Agency (EASA) next month about the measures we are taking to maintain our safety ranking. In November, we will have another audit by ICAO which will be a very comprehensive," she had said.
The decision to license ATCOs was taken on the basis of recommendations of a committee on the civil aviation sector, headed by former Civil Aviation Secretary M K Kaw.
The committee, set up to review the operations of the DGCA by the previous UPA government in 2005, submitted its report in 2006.
As of now, pilots and aircraft maintenance engineers come in the license category of employees in the aviation.
"Besides, of the 125 aerodromes in the country, only 60 airports have been issued licenses and the remaining ones have yet to get it. This exercise is also to be completed before ICAO takes a comprehensive review of the aviation safety oversight."
"If India fails to meet any of the parameters regarding aerodrome operations or air traffic control during it would stand the risk of being put on the list of " non-compliant" on the ICAO website," sources said.
After its 2006 and 2012 audits, ICAO had placed the country in its list of 13 worst-performing nations.