RTI has flagged a 40% staff shortage at the aviation regulator DGCA due to safety issues

An RTI response accessed by India Today has flagged a staff shortage of nearly 40 percent at India’s aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), raising concerns about its ability to enforce safety standards amid a series of recent incidents.

The RTI was filed in the wake of the January 28 incident involving Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar’s plane. Comprehensive details of the DGCA’s surveillance of non-scheduled operating permit (NSOP) holders between January 2023 and December 2025 were sought, including safety audits conducted, major violations detected and action taken.

WHAT RTI asked

The application also asked for the number of cases in which aircraft or helicopter parts were used outside prescribed expiration limits, along with details of penalized, suspended or grounded operators.

It also sought the DGCA’s findings on the September 2023 Learjet 45 crash involving VSR Ventures, including observations on pilot training standards and unstabilized approaches, and whether the operator was subject to special supervision before a subsequent crash.

REPLY FROM DGCA

In its reply, the DGCA said that the concerned Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) is solely concerned with the cadre management of the Group ‘A’ technical officers and the information sought was not part of the record of that office. It added that the application had been forwarded to other concerned CPIOs.

While no substantive operational details were provided, the RTI response disclosed staffing data in the DGCA’s core security departments – and the figures indicate significant shortages.

In the Airworthiness Wing, which oversees aircraft maintenance standards and regulatory compliance, 310 posts have been sanctioned but only 174 are filled. This leaves 136 vacancies, almost 44 percent of the sanctioned strength.

The Air Safety Wing, responsible for audits and safety oversight, has 116 sanctioned posts, of which 86 have been filled, leaving 30 vacancies – a shortage of more than 25 percent.

Most notably, the Supervision and Enforcement Department has no sanctioned posts, while seven staff currently work in the department, raising questions about the structural and administrative arrangements within the regulator.

The staffing announcements come against the backdrop of heightened scrutiny of aviation safety, especially in the non-scheduled and air ambulance segments.

– Ends