Are Acche Din in Aviation Being Compromised by Inadequate Infrastructure ??

Indian aviation has  embarked on a massive growth cycle with a 20.34% YOY growth fuelled by the falling oil prices and the induction of capacity .

With the civil aviation policy in place one would presume that Indian aviation is now heading towards “Acche Din “.

But sadly the infrastructure required to realize these dreams is nowhere in sight. The airports in Delhi and Mumbai are almost saturated and there is no planning for addressing the traffic jams in the air .There is a urgent need for an alternative airport at Mumbai , Delhi and Pune to name a few but the aviation ministry is still on backfoot as far as these issues are concerned 

The skill crisis at different levels is affecting the airports and the airlines alike.The latest to hit the industry is an acute shortage of air traffic controllers.

India has just pumped US$50 million into a new air-traffic control tower in New Delhi. It is however going to be a challenge to  find qualified flight controllers to operate it. The nation’s busiest airport needs 600 of the technicians ideally for stable operations, but employs only 360, the officials  say.

The world’s fastest-growing major aviation market is facing acute shortage of air traffic controllers to meet growing demand, as many of them prefer to work with the private carriers instead of  Airports Authority of India, where starting monthly salaries can be as low as US$250.

As  per a government statement issued last year  , almost a third of India’s  air-traffic controller positions are vacant . The shortfall implies that the existing controllers are overworked. In a field as sensitive as controlling air traffic real time , fatigue could lead to a serious accident

Even so, the air-traffic controller shortage will only intensify in the coming years as local carriers buy more planes. Boeing estimates India will need 1,850 aircrafts over the next two decades.

The Federal Aviation Administration or FAA as it is known had downgraded India in 2013 finding it as unsafe , short staffed and underprepared as per the safety guidelines.. The ranking was restored a year later following some corrective action to address shortcomings.

According to an aviation expert there is a huge disconnect between what is required in terms of infrastructure, both physical and manpower, and what is being planned.

It’s imperative that  the ministry takes cognizance of this serious infrastructure shortage  and addresses the issue in time to make the most of the boom in aviation