3 - Ministry of Civil Aviation

7.4 AirportsGiven that the key concerns in the airports sector are inadequate management ofexisting facilities and the need for additional capital for augmenting capacity, the Committeerecommends that the government may focus its efforts on early privatisation of all airports. Inline with this, the government should expedite the proposed privatisation of Mumbai and Delhiairports and quickly start the process of privatisation of other airports as well. The governmentshould ensure that all potential hurdles to privatisation such as redeployment of existingemployees, bearing of security' costs, coordination between security, immigration, etc. andeffective relocation of existing tenants are dealt with effectively ex ante so that the privatisationprocess is not delayed. At the same time, the qualification criteria should not be so stringent soas to rule out otherwise competent bidders. The government's aim of providing regionalconnectivity, and ensuring the development and maintenance of uneconomical airports can bemet from the proposed EASF through minimum subsidy bidding'. Economic regulation ofairports is necessary given the potential abuse of monopoly power by the airport operator, andshould be vested with the proposed Aviation Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA). Safetyregulation is a key consideration, and monitoring and enforcement of quality standards shouldbe left to the DGCA.7.5 Air Traffic ControlThe Committee recommends separation of ATC services from the AAI and vesting themwith a government-owned ATC corporation. Safety regulation of. ATC Corporation should beunder the purview of the DGCA. In order to contain potential abuse of monopoly power, theATC Corporation should also be regulated by the proposed AERA. In recognition of theimportance of meteorological services in: providing effective ATC services, the Committeesuggests that the IMD should depute trained meteorological personnel to the proposed ATCCorporation. In order to achieve effective ATC services, meteorologists' should function underthe control of the ATC Corporation though they may be on deputation. Furthermore, ATCCorporation could procure the meteorological equipment needed for aviation activities after dueconsultation with IMD. The IMD should continue to be vested with the responsibilities oftraining and upgradation of skills of meteorological officers and also development of theprocedures in accordance with the provisions of ICAO.7.6 Institutional FrameworkSafety should remain the paramount , priority of all entities. Given the technicallycomplex procedures relating to safety, there should be a specialised regulator overseeing safetyissues, separate from an economic regulator. The DGCA remains well-suited for this functionand should be tasked with safety regulation. It should, however, reform its regulatory approachto enhance transparency and initiate consultations with aviation stakeholders. In recognition ofthe urgent need to strengthen the DGCA, it should be allowed to contract qualified pilots whoare either medically grounded or have attained the normal age of retirement from airlines. Suchpilots may be contracted up to the age of 65 years (63 years on initial contract and 2 yearsextension) subject to fitness. In a similar vein, the DGCA should be allowed to avail of the53