Safety watchdog downgrades Indian airlines
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Ambitions of global expansion among Indian airlines suffered a major blow last week when the US lowered its aviation safety rating for the country.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has cut India’s aviation safety ranking from Category One to Category Two due to inadequate safety oversight, thereby inflicting a major blow on national airlines.
This downgrade will prevent Air India and Jet Airways from expanding existing services to the US as the FAA prohibits service expansion among Category Two airlines, neither does it support reciprocal code-share arrangements between Category Two nations and US carriers.
Consequently, United Airlines has suspended a marketing pact with Jet Airways, reports the Economic Times, causing the company share price to drop 3.7% in Mumbai on Friday.
Speaking publicly on Friday, India’s civil aviation minister Ajit Singh said two of 31 issues raised by the FAA remain unresolved and he expressed expectation that the full compliance would be achieved come March.
Now ranked alongside airlines from Indonesia, the Philippines and Bangladesh, Indian airlines will be subject to further inspections from the FAA, and analysts have warned that the downgrade could prompt similar reactions from safety organisations in other countries.
There are no immediate signs of a domino effect just yet however, as the European Aviation Safety Agency said it had no major concerns and will continue to monitor safety performance of all non-European airlines.
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