The Civil Aviation Authority, the body that will replace the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to become the country's civil aviation regulator, is likely to come into existence this year. The buzz in the aviation ministry circles is that Nazim Zaidi, the current civil aviation secretary, will hold the top post as chairperson of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) after his retirement from government service this July. 

The 21-page CAA draft bill is focused on making the aviation regulator independent by giving it more financial and recruitment powers. Unlike the DGCA, the UPSC board will have no role to play in CAA recruitments. The new regulator will also have the power to demand financial documents, balance sheets, etc. from airlines as per a report in TOI by Manju V.

But the CAA bill has not gone down well with many aviation industry insiders who point out that it does not bring any significant change to the way air and flight safety functions are carried out at the ground level by the regulator. "It has no new plans on improving air safety, the primary function of the aviation regulator. It is Utopian to believe that by giving the CAA absolute financial and recruitment powers, critical job functions like safety monitoring will improve," said a senior aviation analyst, requesting not to be named. 

Among the contentious points in the draft bill is the eligibility criteria laid down for the CAA top post. "The chairperson will be a person who is or has held the post of secretary to the government or an equivalent post in the central government,'' says the draft. In other countries, aviation professionals, like pilots with decades of experience or people with technical knowledge of the aviation industry can vie for the top post in their aviation regulatory body. Then again, unlike other government agencies, the bill selectively lays down 65 years as the age of retirement for the CAA chairperson. 

Said an aviation source: "It appears to be a tailor-made, post-retirement plan for high-ranking IAS officers. If one retires as civil aviation secretary, one can, with great probability, ensure employment till the age of 65 as CAA chairperson, a very coveted post." Zaidi, the architect of the CAA bill, is scheduled to retire on July 7 this year and that has led to the talk in aviation circles about the possibility of him being the first CAA chairperson. Zaidi, when contacted, said he would not like to comment. 

According to a ministry source, formation of the CAA has been put on the 'priority list' in a letter sent to the Prime Minister's Office by the aviation ministry late last year. 

The CAA will differ primarily from the DGCA in the administrative structure. The CAA board will comprise the chairperson, followed by the director-general of civil aviation who will be called the chief executive officer. The board will have not less than 10 members and not more than 12. Out of this, six members will be full-time and the others will be part-timers. The bill is vague on qualifications demanded from the six members who will be in charge of critical functions like airworthiness and aircraft engineering, aviation safety, flight standard operations. "Only a previous job experience requirement is mentioned but no technical or educational qualification is listed, leaving scope for non-technically qualified personnel to dominate the board," said a senior commander. The joint director-generals of DGCA will move in as CAA members. "It does appear like a super bureaucracy," he added. 

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