IndiGo crisis rekindles questions over DGCA’s revolving-door leadership

Experts have raised concerns that ten generalist officials have served at the top office at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in the last 17 years—all serving or retired bureaucrats, lacking specialist knowledge critical in running a sector like aviation, from the government's elite Indian Administrative Service, or IAS, cadre.

The last non-IAS officer to head the DGCA was Kanu Gohain, a technocrat who rose through the ranks of the aviation regulator to the top job before retiring in 2008. Since then, all 10 director generals have been bureaucrats, including the incumbent, Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, who took over in January.

In early December, IndiGo canceled more than 4,500 flights due to a pilot shortage, failing to meet new DGCA regulations capping pilots' flying hours from midnight to 6AM. A nationwide uproar prompted the aviation ministry and DGCA to launch an investigation, slash IndiGo's daily flights by 10%, and demand explanations from IndiGo chief executive officer (CEO) Pieter Elbers and the airline's chief operating officer Isidre Porqueras.

While the Indigo cancellations seems to have been a case of mismanagement by the airline, the role of ministry of civil aviation and DGCA came under the lens for lapses.

“They did not spot the craters in time, they did not prune the expanded schedules in time nor they did not verify if they had the pilots for the schedule, even when they saw the troubles brewing in November," said Sanjay Lazar, aviation safety specialist and CEO of Avialaz Consulting.

Six months ago, Air India's Flight 171 crashed seconds after takeoff from Ahmedabad, with at least 260 fatalities. The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is still investigating what caused the country’s worst civil aviation disaster.

Bureaucrats serving as directors general, according to aviation experts, have weakened the regulator’s technical depth and continuity.

“There is a clear need for a DG with technical skills and knowledge, it ended with Kanu Gohain, who retired after extensions, which followed the appointment of IAS officers. You need someone with domain knowledge and qualified experience in the regulator’s post; you cannot bring someone who doesn't know the subject," said Captain Mohan Ranganathan, a former airline instructor pilot.

Specialists head aviation regulators globally

The wisdom of a specialist leading DGCA has been made several times in the past including in a report commissioned on aviation safety more than 25 years ago. "This concern is not new. As far back as 1997, Air Marshal J.K. Seth, in a landmark report, underscored the need for an autonomous aviation regulator staffed by sector specialists," said Amit Singh, CEO of aviation safety think tank, Safety Matters Foundation, and a former pilot. The Seth report was critical of several aspects of regulation in Indian aviation but its recommendations, including that of an independent regulator, were never implemented.

The DGCA should be headed by someone who has spent time as a pilot, engineer, or technical expert, added Lazar.

The current director general Kidwai, a 1996-batch IAS officer, previously served as the additional secretary in the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

The trend of non-specialists leading DGCA is in contrast to the heads of aviation regulators in other countries. The United States aviation regulatory body is the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), headed by Bryan Bedford, a former CEO of Republic Airways with over three decades of aviation experience.

The head of Europe's main aviation regulator, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), Florian Guillermet, also had aviation experience. Guillermet worked at France’s DSNA, the agency responsible for air traffic control, communications, and information for France, and Air France.

At the UK, Sir Stephen Hillier, formerly chief of the Royal Air Force, chairs the Civil Aviation Authority. Its CEO is Rob Bishton, a qualified commercial pilot with stints at easyJet and other airlines, according to the UK regulator's website.

Short tenures, musical chairs

Beyond the issue of technical expertise, experts also pointed out that the short term of the IAS officers at the helm of the regulatory body for only one or two years led to leadership instability at the DGCA.

“The Director General is often a serving officer on deputation, promoted and moved out within a year or two, preventing continuity in regulatory oversight," said Singh, adding that DGCA requires a steady, long-term head who understands the complexities and nuances of India’s aviation ecosystem.

“In contrast, IAS officers currently appointed to the role typically require significant time to grasp technical processes and regulatory procedures, making the institution vulnerable to internal influence from lower-ranking officials who possess greater operational familiarity," Singh said.

As per Singh, the 1997 Seth report also argued that the DGCA should function independently of the Ministry of Civil Aviation. At present, the ministry retains control over policy-making, regulation, senior appointments, and accident investigations, concentrating all levers of authority within a single administrative structure. This lack of separation continues to undermine the regulator’s autonomy and effectiveness.

The fast expansion in aviation necessitates urgent changes in the sector's regulation and administration, experts said. India’s top three carriers, IndiGo, Air India, and Akasa Air, expect to increase their fleets by nearly 1,800 planes by 2035.

“India is at a critical juncture in aviation and we need reforms and restructuring and a more robust regulator. The DGCA is an overburdened and understaffed body, with 19 divisions," said Lazar. “We need to perhaps split it into two—one dealing with the administrative regulatory stuff and the other dealing with the technical stuff, which should be led by an aviator or a person with technical expertise."

The DGCA, meanwhile, also has a staffing problem: about half of its posts are vacant currently. Last Monday, the first day of the winter session of the parliament, the minister of state for civil aviation, Murlidhar Mohol, informed the Rajya Sabha that of the sanctioned 1,630 posts at DGCA, 801 posts are vacant.

“...to meet the requirement in the interregnum, efforts are made to recruit persons through short-term contractual hiring," Mohol said in a written response to the upper house of Parliament.

Emails sent to DGCA and the ministry of civil aviation did not elicit a response.