New Delhi, Aug 31 (IANS): The government has invited suggestions from the aviation industry for the proposed restructuring of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

The Civil Aviation Ministry has set up a committee in January this year to review the functioning of the DGCA, the sector regulator, along with its current structure and assessing its manpower requirements.

The committee has been tasked to study global practices and to review the functioning of the DGCA along with its current structure for manpower requirement in next 10 years and shortage of skilled resources.

In this regard, the Civil Aviation Ministry has invited suggestions from the aviation industry and stakeholders such as air operators, airport operators, various associations of pilots, cabin crew, engineers, air traffic controllers and drone operators for consideration by the committee.

In a recent development, major pilot associations had sought an immediate replacement of

incumbent Director General of Civil Aviation Arun Kumar in the interest of flight safety following the Kozhikode air tragedy.

They had demanded that Arun Kumar, an Indian Administrative Service officer, be immediately replaced with a suitable candidate with substantial aviation knowledge and operational experience, to serve the country as the Director General of Civil Aviation.

In a letter to Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri, the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) and the Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) pointed out that Arun Kumar, in a nationally televised interview conducted moments after the catastrophic accident of Air India Express Flight No IX 1344 at Kozhikode, referred to the deceased pilots as "fellows" and also said: "...and the landing it seems was not appropriate".

"Just as the head of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board cannot be a veterinary scientist and nor can the head of the Medical Council of India be a mathematician - no matter how academically qualified or senior that person may be - every technically sensitive department with public safety ramifications requires a domain expert. The DGCA of India, therefore, stands out as an aberration and embarrassment before the international aviation community," they added.