The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging establishment of an autonomous, statutory Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) while renewing its call for structural reform in India's aviation sector. According to reports from Mint, the letter dated August 6 was addressed to PM Modi, emphasizing that India, now the third-largest domestic aviation market globally, remains an outlier among major regional economies by continuing to rely on the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) under the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
As reported by Mint, the proposal emerged from concerns raised by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and Parliamentary Committees, alongside the rapid growth of India's aviation sector. The FIP drew comparisons with neighbors such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, all of which operate autonomous statutory CAAs, arguing that India's regulatory framework must evolve to align with international best practices. The proposal resurrects core elements from the lapsed 2013 Civil Aviation Authority Bill, which gained significant momentum in 2013-2014 before ultimately lapsing.
According to Mint reports, the FIP's blueprint includes creation of a dedicated Civil Aviation Authority Fund sustained through user fees, licensing charges, and cost-recovery safety audits, reducing reliance on government grants. The proposal emphasizes empowering the authority to hire industry experts directly with competitive, market-based remuneration rather than being bound by routine civil service rules. It recommends a professional board featuring a Chairperson, Director General, and domain experts spanning flight safety, airworthiness, air navigation, consumer affairs, and environmental compliance, appointed for fixed terms with dedicated mechanisms for handling passenger complaints and environmental compliance.
As reported by Mint, the FIP highlighted that the rapid expansion of the sector, with commercial fleets topping 850 aircraft and passenger numbers surging past 239 million, has severely strained the conventional government department structure. The organization emphasized that unlike global counterparts in the UK, Singapore, and neighboring South Asian nations that operate self-sustaining bodies, the DGCA's revenue goes straight into the Consolidated Fund of India, leaving the regulator dependent on annual budget allocations. The FIP claimed that the government identified several shortcomings in the existing DGCA structure, including lack of institutional independence and rigid government pay scales that make it difficult to attract specialized aviation talent.
According to Mint reports, copies of the comprehensive proposal have been forwarded to Union Minister of Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu, Civil Aviation Secretary SK Sinha, Cabinet Secretary Dr TV Somanathan, and the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister. The FIP argued that an autonomous CAA would heavily bolster compliance with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) standards and would enable independent leadership and continuous digital investment to speed up pilot licensing, enhance fatigue risk management, and secure global confidence in India's aviation oversight system.
