India’s aviation safety ratings have been downgraded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) from the top to the second category, which would affect expansion of flights by Indian carriers to the United States.

The downgrade from Category I to II means that Indian aviation regulator does not meet the safety standards set by the UN agency, International Civil Aviation Organisation.

The FAA decision was made known to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) early today, sources said.

The FAA downgrade of India’s safety rankings would effectively bar Air India and Jet Airways from increasing flights to the U.S. from what they currently operate or have any new code-share relationships with any U.S. airline.

However, it does not mean that these airlines are unsafe but shows that the DGCA’s safety oversight may not be enough to properly monitor the safety performance of Indian carriers.

To avoid such a downgrade, the Indian aviation regulator had been rushing to take several steps in the recent past to recruit more professional and technical hands and preparing technical manuals to provide for fresh rules to meet the exigencies of the growing Indian aviation market.

In a status report filed with its U.S. counterpart last week, the DGCA had said that it had addressed the FAA’s concerns over 33 aviation safety issues.

The report was filed a day after the Cabinet approved a Civil Aviation Ministry proposal to allow DGCA to hire 75 experienced professional and technical hands directly from the market, instead of going through the UPSC recruitment route, and to pay them salaries at market rates.

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