Parliament panel meeting with MoCA, airlines officials concludes; members seek answers over aviation safety and

India Gazette

7 hours ago

New Delhi [India], July 8 (ANI): The Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Tuesday met with top officials from the Civil Aviation Ministry and representatives from major airlines, where the members of the committee raised concerns on the Air India Flight AI-171 crash in Ahmedabad and sudden surge in flight fares from Srinagar to other cities after the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22.
Many Members of Parliament claimed that the airlines drastically increased their fares immediately after the attack, which is against the set standards.
Among other issues discussed, according to sources, some members of the Opposition parties have demanded a special audit of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS).
An MP from an opposition party demanded a special audit for the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS).
According to a noting on the Lok Sabha website agenda of today's meeting was to hear Oral evidence of the representatives of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (AERA), Airports Authority of India (AAI), AAI Cargo Logistics and Allied Services Company Ltd. (AAICLAS), Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) and other concerned organizations including Airport Operators and Airlines on the subject 'Levy and regulation of fees, tariffs, user charges etc. on public infrastructure and other public utilities'.
Air India CEO Campbell Wilson also arrived at the Parliament House for the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) meeting.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MP Praful Patel asserted that there is no need to panic as all airlines, including Air India, follow safety protocols.
However, Patel highlighted that there is need of more people in the DGCA as they are facing a shortage of top-level skilled manpower.
'Safety is paramount. Anyone who flies wants to feel safe and assured that he will reach his destination... Indian aviation is safe. There is no need to be panicking about it. All airlines, including Air India, follow safety protocols. DGCA is well-equipped and does a very good job. DGCA needs to have more people because they are facing a shortage of top-level skilled manpower. A lot of retired people can be brought back for a short period so that understaffing can be addressed at the higher level to ensure that the safety standards are complied with,' Praful Patel said.
BJP MP Jagdambika Pal said that air safety was the most discussed issue in the PAC meeting.
'In the meeting, we talked about the Buddhist Circuit. There are very important places that are significant in Buddhism. All countries and places significant to Buddhism will be interconnected. Airfare hikes were also discussed, especially the ones post Pahalgam terror attack and during Maha Kumbh... Air safety was the most discussed issue... The black box investigation of the Ahmedabad plane crash is currently underway, and the Dreamliner is supposed to be one of the safest aircraft,' Pal said.
Congress MP and PAC Chairperson, KC Venugopal, mentioned that the Committee has asked the airlines to have clear-cut regulations on fares.
'Everybody is concerned about the safety... We are discussing the increase in air fares also, especially post Pahalgam and during Kumbh... The committee has asked them to have clear-cut regulations on fares... DGCA and airlines were also part of the meeting,' Venugopal said.
On June 12, Air India Flight AI-171, a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport. It struck a hostel building of BJ Medical College, killing 241 of the 242 people on board, including former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has submitted its preliminary report to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and other authorities. According to sources, the crash protection module (CPM) from one of the black boxes was retrieved, and the data was successfully downloaded on June 25 at the AAIB Lab in Delhi. To verify the data, an identical unit known as a 'golden chassis' was used.
The investigation is being led by the AAIB Director General and includes experts from the Indian Air Force, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), and the US-based National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which is the designated investigation body from the country of the aircraft's design. Aviation medicine and air traffic control experts are also part of the team.
According to officials, this is the first time India is decoding black box data domestically. On June 25, the memory module was successfully accessed and its data was downloaded at the AAIB Lab, the official said.
After the Pahalgam attack on April 22, tourists who were stranded in the Kashmir valley had to shell out a hefty amount of money to fly back to their home towns, as flight tickets had exorbitantly risen, apparently because of heavy demand.
Air fares to major Indian cities were skyrocketed since the news of the terrorist attack broke out. Searches on the websites of airline operators either show elevated ticket prices or indicate that tickets are sold out.
Anyone who tried to book a ticket would encounter messages such as 'all flights are too close to departure,' 'sold out,' or 'unfortunately, there are no flights available.'
Afterwards, Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said the government is making efforts to ensure the safe travel of tourists from Srinagar and also issued 'strict instructions' to Airlines to avoid any fare surges.
In a post on X, Naidu said, 'In the wake of the tragic terror attack, we are constantly making efforts to ensure safe travel of tourists from Srinagar. Strict instructions were given to Airline companies to avoid any fare surges, Fares are being monitored and kept at reasonable levels.' (ANI)