Euphoria over rapid civil aviation growth blurs national security
Posted Date – Sun, 11 Jun 23 at 12:45pm
santosh mehra
Civil aviation is a different ball game. This is the nature of the beast. Charming but ruthless. Charming but ruthless. One day it will take you to heaven. However, it throws you in the pit the next day. Always in the headlines. Most of the time, for the wrong reasons.
Consider the following:
The collapses that are most remembered in public memory are those of Kingfisher Airlines, Jet Airways and now Go First, although more than 400,000 companies have failed, including major companies such as Bhushan Steel, Lanco Infra and more than 250 start-ups including Celebrity companies like eBay, Stayzilla, etc. are up.
The isolated case of a drunk man urinating on a woman in the executive cabin of an Air India flight made prime-time television news and made national headlines, outnumbering India’s truly heinous 31,000 rapes and 85,000 rapes a year. There are more cases of insulting women’s modesty (NCRB 2021).
While train and bus travel delays of a few hours are commonplace, the slight increase in waiting times at New Delhi’s T3 terminal generates such bad publicity that it compels the Minister of Civil Aviation and his entourage to visit.
The question arises: How prepared are you to maintain the highest standards in an industry that, while growing at a scorching pace, could plummet in the face of the slightest misstep?
India ranks seventh and has the potential to be among the top three globally in terms of domestic and international passenger traffic.Driven by the 2016 National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP), The industry is experiencing unprecedented growth. Its dual goals are to increase affordability/connectivity for the masses and boost the economy and employment.
Ready to take off?
However, unlike any other industry, civil aviation demands the highest standards in all parameters. Even Six Sigma standards can be subpar in civil aviation, especially when it comes to safety and security. The question at issue is whether the country is ready for such a huge leap of faith in terms of infrastructure, technology, systems and procedures, and most importantly, a well-trained workforce of all kinds?
We highlight and analyze some major issues.
aviation safety
Aviation security is basically the responsibility of the Civil Aviation Safety Bureau (BCAS) and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). While BCAS developed broad policies and guidelines, the heavy lifting of implementation fell largely to CISF. With limited human resources, it is increasingly difficult for CISF to cope with the surge in airports and the massive increase in passenger traffic. Aviation security units established in several countries are best described as “work in progress”. Compared with the local police, they suffer from the common ills of the police, such as shortage of manpower, poor and indifferent leadership, lack of adequate technical equipment, salary level and unattractive promotion channels. Many of them don’t have any female security component at all, and are somehow “managed” by rotating female police officers, which is a risky proposition.
Domestic passenger arrivals increased from 79 million in 2010 to 158 million in 2017 and are expected to reach 520 million by 2030
Not only is a lack of trained manpower a serious safety hazard, but it can also increase waiting times for passengers at airports. For most business people and other professionals, the most obvious personal cost of terrorism is the extra time spent going through airport security. Research conducted in the US shows that if 600 million US air travelers faced an extra hour of delay each year, and that time was valued at $20 per hour, that would amount to $12 billion per year, or 0.1% of US GDP. U.S. time is money!
Unfortunately, amid the optimism about the industry’s rapid growth, the outlook for national security is increasingly murky. It is absolutely and equally important for government officials and private players to understand that aviation safety is a parameter and that even the slightest misstep can cause severe setbacks in all areas, including the economy, jobs and most importantly national security . An example of a plane hijacking and an entire edifice, painstakingly built over decades, could collapse like a deck of cards.
These two examples undoubtedly prove the point:
9/11 attacks: This resulted in the loss of 3,060 lives, an immediate and immediate loss of $36 billion to the US economy, the loss of more than 425,000 jobs in New York alone, and an immediate 40% decline in tourism, hospitality and airlines. The insurance claim payout was 1.5 times that of Hurricane Andrew, the highest payout for a natural disaster in the history of the United States.
Hijacking of IA 814 in December 1999: The flight from Kathmandu landed in Amritsar but was allowed to take off, possibly due to lack of timely action and misjudgment. It eventually landed in Kandahar, Afghanistan, then under Taliban rule, where 154 passengers and crew were held hostage for eight days. The sordid saga ended with the release of hardcore terrorists Masood Azhar, Ahmed Omar Sheikh and Mushtaq Ahmad Zargar. British Pakistani terrorist Ahmed Omar Sheikh of Jaish-e-Mohammed involved in killing this wall street journal Journalist Daniel Pearl. After his release, Masood Azhar reorganized his terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammed. Listed by the UN Security Council as an international terrorist, he has been responsible for a string of deadly attacks including the December 2001 attack on the Indian parliament, the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack, the January 2016 Pathankot airbase attack and most recently the VBIED ( Vehicle-mounted improvised explosive device) suicide bombers attacked a CRPF convoy in Pulwama in 2019, killing 44. Even two decades later, India is still picking up the pieces of that plane hijacking. Thus, even a single hijacking of an aircraft can have serious consequences for national security and the economy.
safe flight
In view of the above situation, the following urgent measures are required:
Security Policy: Now is the time for India to formulate a National Civil Aviation Security Policy which will be formulated by an advisory committee. It should have experts from BCAS, CISF, national aviation security forces, and representatives of the aviation private sector. The security blueprint must incorporate best global practices, workforce forecasting, identification and outsourcing of non-core responsibilities, technology adoption, and more. It should explore having a foreign component in CISF on the basis of ONGC Videsh in line with the Prime Minister’s vision to increase India’s global footprint.
Professional troops: To meet the growing demand for highly trained and professional manpower at Indian airports, the exponential growth in the number of aircraft and the number of passengers, a dedicated national aviation security force, modeled after the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA), should be established with a primary focus on Airport security and anti-hijacking measures. This is because the CISF was essentially raised for industrial safety, and the majority of its strength (over 80%) remains dedicated to industrial safety. By then, the CISF could perhaps be renamed the Central Industrial and Aviation Security Force to highlight its critical role in aviation security.
Passenger traffic will grow at an annual rate of 6.2% until 2040, the highest growth rate among major countries, much higher than the world average of 3.9%
handheld state: At the same time, the center has to do a lot to fill shortages and build capacity in the United States. One, 10-20% of Agniveers are finishing their term and can be designated for the National Aviation Security Force. These Agniveers are highly trained soldiers and can be easily deployed at an airfield, say, for a month-long “transition course.” In addition to providing guaranteed employment for some Agniveers, this will also avoid time-consuming and costly hiring campaigns held individually by states.
To set up a college: For formal induction/basic and refresher courses for national police personnel, the center could consider setting up five regional aviation security academies as despite repeated admonitions to states during DGP annual meeting, few states like Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka , have their own settings. First, the existing five Central Detective Training Academy/Central Police Training Academy under the Police Research and Development Bureau can undertake the task of building aviation security capacity in their respective regions.
More Teeth from BCAS: BCAS directives require stricter enforcement. No RCS (Udan) airport shall be allowed to operate flights unless all criteria are met and certified.
Leverage the private sector: Many private sector players, such as GMR, have acquired considerable expertise in aviation safety. Whenever and wherever, the expertise of private companies in capacity building should be leveraged.
Safety
The paramount importance of aviation safety hardly needs any reaffirmation. Go First’s recent failures can be traced back to its A320 Neo being grounded by the Civil Aviation Authority under safety standards after its Pratt & Whitney engine suffered repeated mechanical failures.
fleet maintenance
With limited funds, Indian companies mostly lease aircraft rather than buy them outright. The rise of the dollar exchange rate has increased the financial burden on these companies, making their operations unsustainable. In addition, high taxes on aviation turbine fuel (ATF) compounded their woes. Air India’s MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul) business is around Rs 5,000 crore, 90% of which is currently spent outside India – Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, UAE etc.
Likewise, Indian companies are dependent on foreign companies due to lack of adequate domestic MRO infrastructure, resulting in the loss of precious dollars. Hence, the Government of India needs to examine all issues related to civil aviation. This includes creating a supportive ecosystem for foreign leasing companies to set up offices in India, support for local MRO companies, rationalization of ATF taxation, etc. The 2020 reduction of GST on MRO services from 18% to 5% and removal of GTO (Gross Turnover Tax) is a healthy step.
Participation of the private sector
Globally, the aviation industry is highly competitive and requires deep pockets and domain expertise that only the private sector can bring in. Despite this, the private sector continues to be seen as “aangan ki tulsi”.
To realize its ambitious vision, the center plans to invest $1.83 billion in airport infrastructure through 2026. To overcome financial constraints, the number of PPP (Public Private Partnership) airports will increase five-fold to 24 by 2025. The Airports Authority of India (AAI), which is forming a joint venture, has recently awarded six airports in Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Guwahati, Trivandrum and Mangalore to participate in the PPP. operation, management and development under the model for a period of 50 years. Under the National Monetization Pipeline (NMP), 25 AAI airports have been earmarked for asset monetization between 2022 and 2025. However, there is still much work to be done.
According to UDAN (“UdeDeshkaAamNagrik”), a key component of the National Civil Aviation Policy 2016, more than 215,000 UDAN flights carried more than 11 million passengers as of 30 November 2022
With an output multiplier of 3.25 and an employment multiplier of 6.1, the industry has huge potential. So now is the time for the government to tap the private sector not only for its financial strength but for all issues including policy making, safety and security, capacity building and infrastructure development.
What is required is not just a ‘whole of government’ approach, but a ‘whole of country’ approach, meaning a collective and coordinated effort by central, state governments, central public sector units and, last but not least, the private sector.
(Author is former DG, NHRC and DGP, APSPF)
