India’s aviation safety regulator is facing a severe staffing crisis that threatens its ability to maintain safe operations, a parliamentary panel has warned in a new report.
The report, tabled in the upper house of parliament, describes the “profound and persistent shortage” of personnel at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) as an “existential threat” to the integrity of India’s aviation safety system. Only 553 of 1,063 posts are currently filled, leaving nearly half of positions vacant.
The parliamentary committee, comprising members from both governing and opposition parties, highlighted several systemic issues in India’s rapidly growing aviation sector, including overworked air traffic controllers, fatigue, insufficient training, and infrastructural constraints. The report also criticized the DGCA’s slow and inflexible hiring model, which limits its ability to attract skilled talent.
To address these challenges, the panel recommended granting the DGCA full financial and administrative autonomy and improving error reporting systems in line with the “Just Culture” approach, which balances accountability with recognition of human error. It also suggested conducting detailed root-cause analyses for high-risk events, such as runway incursions and bird strikes.
The report noted that the aviation boom, driven by budget airlines, rising incomes, and government expansion of airport connectivity, has put immense pressure on staff, especially at metropolitan airports. Current data show 14.12 runway incursions per one million movements, significantly above the target of 9.78, highlighting the risk to airspace safety.
While India consistently performs better than the global average in safety metrics, the committee warned that the combination of understaffing, operational overload, and training shortfalls poses a direct and ongoing threat to aviation safety.
The panel’s recommendations come amid heightened scrutiny of the sector following the June 12 Air India crash that killed 260 people, though the report does not directly reference the accident. It stresses that immediate reforms are necessary to ensure the DGCA can effectively carry out its mandate.
