1. What is DGCA?
2. What is Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Bill?
3. Structure of CAA
4. Autonomy: Finance
5. Autonomy: Personnel

What are the functions of DGCA ?

• DGCA=Directorate General of Civil Aviation
• It is a regulatory body under Ministry of Civil Aviation.

The main functions of DGCA, following:

1. registration of aircraft
2. Licensing pilots, aircraft maintenance engineers, flight engineers.
3. Supervision of Institutes, clubs and schools engaged in in flying training.
4. Conducting air crash investigations
5. Formulating guidelines for airplane safety.
6. It serves as nodal agency for coordination with ICAO (International civil aviation organisation, a United Nations agency).

What is Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Bill?

• Government plans to introduce this bill in the winter session of Parliament.
• This bill aims to replace the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) with  Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) -an autonomous body with more powers.

Structure of CAA

• Chairman + board members.
• Chairman (of CAA) will have a fixed term of five years
• Chairman will be a person with requisite aviation experience can head the authority. An Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer with requisite aviation experience will also be eligible for the post.

Autonomy: Finance

• This new regulator will need annual earnings of around Rs 140 crore, for making itself financially independent.
• A major part of the earnings will come from fee charged for giving out licences.
• A substantial amont of money will also come from charging from passengers. (Government plans to introduce a surcharge of Rs 5 per flight ticket to fund the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)).

Autonomy: Personnel

• CAA will also have the autonomy to hire its employees and decide the salaries of its employees.
• At present, appointments at the DGCA are approved by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), which is a time-consuming process.