Federation of Indian Pilots Calls for Autonomous Civil Aviation Authority

India – The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), a professional pilots organisation, has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposing that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) be replaced by an autonomous statutory Civil Aviation Authority with greater administrative, financial and technical independence.

• 787 of the DGCA’s 1,630 sanctioned positions were vacant in January 2026, according to the Ministry of Civil Aviation, while 526 of 1,063 sanctioned Group A technical and Flight Operations Inspector positions related to aviation safety were vacant as of January 22. The government has stated that the shortfall has not affected DGCA’s functioning and is being addressed through direct recruitment, promotions, deputation and short-term contractual hiring.
• FIP President Capt CS Randhawa submitted the proposal to the Prime Minister on August 6, 2026, with copies also reportedly sent to senior Ministry of Civil Aviation and central government officials. The federation argues that the DGCA’s status under the Ministry limits its ability to recruit specialist aviation personnel, manage its finances independently and make regulatory decisions at the pace required by India’s expanding aviation sector.
• FIP’s proposed structure includes a dedicated Civil Aviation Authority Fund supported by user fees, licence charges and cost-recovery oversight activity, alongside authority to recruit technical specialists on more competitive employment terms. The organisation has identified flight operations inspectors, airline captains, airworthiness and maintenance engineers, air traffic management specialists, human-factors personnel and fatigue-risk specialists among areas requiring specialist regulatory expertise.
• The proposal revives an approach previously pursued by the Government of India. The Civil Aviation Authority of India Bill, 2013 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 20, 2013 and proposed replacing DGCA with a statutory CAA responsible for safety oversight, licensing, environmental regulation, consumer interests and other existing DGCA functions. The bill subsequently lapsed following dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha.
• The regulatory-autonomy argument predates the 2013 bill. In 2012, the Ministry of Civil Aviation stated that a CAA was being considered specifically to address constraints in DGCA’s recruitment and retention of technical personnel and its limited administrative and financial authority.
• India itself told the ICAO Assembly in 2016 that DGCA had no full-time flight operations inspectors in early 2014 and that this had contributed to findings identified during ICAO and US FAA safety-oversight audits. The paper stated that subsequent recruitment reforms and capacity-building had strengthened the regulator, while identifying continued recruitment and retention of qualified inspectors as a challenge for aviation authorities.
• DGCA’s flight-training oversight workload has continued to expand. As of April 2026, India had 41 approved Flying Training Organisations across 63 flying bases, of which 38 were operational, with approximately 3,500 available student-training positions under the regulator’s prescribed aircraft-to-instructor-to-student ratios. DGCA issued 1,035 Commercial Pilot Licences to trainees from Indian FTOs during 2025.
• The Ministry reported in March 2026 that Indian FTOs had 396 training aircraft after 61 additional aircraft were inducted during 2025. Three new FTOs were approved during FY2025-26 and another five were under approval, further increasing certification and continuing-surveillance requirements for the regulator.
• The same government assessment estimated that India’s major scheduled airlines could require approximately 17,000 additional pilots over the following five years as large aircraft orderbooks translate into fleet growth. Regulatory capacity covering pilot licensing, FTO oversight, examiner approvals and airline training will therefore expand alongside the underlying training market.
• The Ministry of Civil Aviation currently exercises administrative control over DGCA, which remains responsible for functions including civil aviation safety regulation, aircraft and personnel licensing, certification and surveillance of aviation organisations and implementation of ICAO standards.
• AFM previously reported that DGCA has continued modernising pilot licensing and training oversight within its current structure, including extending Electronic Personnel Licensing to ATPL holders in January 2026 and implementing regulatory measures covering FTO monitoring and training quality.

Source: Federation of Indian Pilots