Aviation regulator mulls stricter fines, safety ranks for charter ops

NEW DELHI: Jolted by two crashes involving small charter aircraft within a month that killed 12 people, India may soon rank non scheduled operator permit (NSOP) or charter and private jet operators based on their safety record.

While this ranking is proposed to be released on the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s (DGCA) website, operators will now mandatorily have to disclose “critical safety information on their websites, including aircraft age, maintenance history, and pilot experience.” This will be done to ensure people are “fully informed about the standards” of the aircraft they charter.