DGCA Faces Staff Crunch as Airlines Expand Fleets Rapidly

As per Lok Sabha submissions, 814 out of 1,692 sanctioned DGCA positions were vacant

- Dipali Banka & K Vaeshnavi

Nearly half of the sanctioned posts at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) remain vacant, underscoring the regulator's inability to fill them at a time when the country's largest carriers expect their fleet size to more than double in the coming five years.

According to submissions made in the Lok Sabha, 814 out of 1,692 sanctioned positions at DGCA remained vacant as of 31 March 2025. DGCA had 878 staff as of 31 March 2025. At the end of March 2020, DGCA had 471 vacancies and 762 people.

According to their latest annual reports, InterGlobe Aviation, which runs India's largest carrier IndiGo, Air India, and SpiceJet had a fleet size of 434, 205, and 61 aircraft, respectively, at the end of March 2025. The country's five largest commercial carriers' fleet increased from 566 at the end of March 2020 to 780 at the end of March 2025, implying 214 planes were added.