The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has downgraded India’s aviation safety ranking according to the Reuters News agency.
This means that Indian airlines cannot increase flights to the US and face additional checks for existing flights.
The FAA has downgraded India to Category 2 from Category 1.
Jet Airways and Air India operate flights from India to the US. AirlineRatings.com has downgraded all Indian airlines by one star.
The FAA conducts the International Aviation Safety Assessment Program (IASA), assessing the civil aviation authority of any country whose airlines operating to the US.
India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) warned early in January that the country could be downgraded.
The FAA completed an audit of the DGCA’s oversight of Indian airlines in September and found 33 deficiencies.
However by December the DGCA had only implemented and closed 26 of the recommendations.
One of the main concerns from the audit was the lack of flight operations inspectors. The FAA expressed considerable concern surrounding this issue.
| Airline | Old Safety Rating | New Safety rating |
| Air India | 7 | 6 |
| GoAir | 7 | 6 |
| Jet Airways | 7 | 6 |
| Jet Konnect | 7 | 6 |
| Air India Regional | 5 | 4 |
| AirAsia India | 5 | 4 |
| IndiGo | 5 | 4 |
| SpiceJet | 5 | 4 |
| Air India Express | 4 | 3 |
