Crisis on ground, rumble in the air

India's civil aviation regulator is fighting a personnel shortfall, possible work overload

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An undermanned civil aviation regulator is not acceptable in any situation — let alone in a scenario where air travel in its jurisdiction is booming.

The fact that 48% of the technical posts at the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) are lying vacant (some for several years), as HT reported Sunday, should, therefore, be cause for concern. Given some of these posts relate to safety-critical functions — from monitoring airline safety compliance to overseeing aircraft safety standards and from conducting incident investigation to carrying out technical oversight-inadequate staffing could erode flier confidence in a sector where such guarantees are paramount.