After a Turbulent 2025, India’s DGCA Heads Into Crucial FAA Audit After 5 Years After Safety Score Jumped From 69.95% to 85.65%

India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is set to face a formal safety review by the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in November 2026, under the FAA’s International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) programme. The timing is significant: the review follows one of the most difficult years in Indian aviation history, defined by a fatal Air India crash that killed 260 people, thousands of IndiGo flight cancellations triggered by the rollout of new pilot fatigue rules, and the discovery of recurring maintenance defects across half the country’s commercial aircraft fleet, The Economic Times reported. 

The IASA review will determine whether India retains its FAA Category 1 status — a designation that allows Indian carriers to operate flights to the United States and enter into codeshare agreements with US airlines. According to the US Department of Transportation, India has held Category 1 status since 1997, except for a period between 2014 and 2018 when it was downgraded to Category 2 following deficiencies found in the DGCA’s oversight framework. The FAA last conducted a full IASA review of the DGCA in October 2021, with follow-up consultations extending through September 2022 and a final determination communicated in April 2023.

What Is the FAA IASA Review and What Is at Stake for India?

The FAA’s IASA programme assesses the civil aviation authority of a country — not individual airlines — for compliance with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards set out in the Chicago Convention. A Category 1 rating means that the country’s civil aviation authority complies with ICAO standards, enabling that country’s airlines to operate into and expand services within the United States, as well as to establish codeshare partnerships with US carriers.

The IASA programme specifically assesses eight critical elements of effective aviation safety oversight, as defined in ICAO Document 9734. These include personnel licensing, operations of aircraft, airworthiness, and the legal and regulatory frameworks within which a civil aviation authority functions.

A Category 2 designation — the consequence of failing to meet these standards — would bar Indian carriers from adding new services to the United States and from establishing new codeshare arrangements with American airlines. India’s downgrade to Category 2 between 2014 and 2018 offers a recent precedent for what that outcome looks like in practice.

The Air India AI171 Crash Changed Everything

The single most consequential event shaping the context of this FAA review is the crash of Air India Flight AI171 on June 12, 2025. A Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner operating from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport (AMD) in Ahmedabad to London Gatwick Airport (LGW) lost both engines within seconds of liftoff and crashed into a medical college building. The accident killed 241 of the 242 people on board, plus 19 on the ground — a total of 260 lives. It was the deadliest aviation accident in India since 1996.

The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) published a preliminary report in July 2025, revealing that cockpit audio recorded one pilot asking “Why did you cut off?” — to which the other replied “I didn’t.” The report indicated that both fuel control switches moved from “RUN” to “CUTOFF” within one second of each other, starving the engines of fuel shortly after takeoff.

The investigation has since become deeply contested. Reports in early 2026 from Italian and US media suggested some investigators believe the crash involved deliberate cockpit action by the captain, who was allegedly struggling with depression — a claim his family disputes.

Meanwhile, the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) submitted a formal technical hypothesis asserting that a pre-liftoff electrical disturbance — rather than any deliberate act — may have triggered the dual-engine fuel cutoff, and urged the AAIB to expand its probe.

The IndiGo FDTL Crisis that Canceled Thousands of Flights

The second defining crisis of 2025 for Indian aviation was the collapse of IndiGo’s scheduling operations following the rollout of the DGCA’s revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL). The DGCA notified airlines of the new rules in January 2024, deferred implementation in March following industry resistance, and finally scheduled a phased rollout from July 1 and November 1, 2025. The revised rules require pilots to receive a minimum of 48 hours of continuous rest per week, restrict night landings to two per week (down from six), and enforce cumulative flying limits of 60 hours in seven days and 100 hours in 28 days.

When the November phase took effect, IndiGo cancelled over 300 flights in just two days. By December 4, 2025, the cancellation rate hit 19.7% in a single day, and Delhi departures averaged 50 minutes late. In November alone, 1,232 IndiGo flights were cancelled, with 755 attributable directly to FDTL implementation. IndiGo’s CEO apologized, conceding the airline had misjudged the number of pilots needed to operate under the new rules.

The DGCA’s response was sharp. It reduced IndiGo’s winter schedule by 10%, issued show cause notices to CEO Pieter Elbers and COO Isidre Porqueras, and ultimately fined the airline ₹222 million over the disruptions while ordering a ₹500 million bank guarantee.

DGCA Has Responded with Audits, Reforms, And New Rules

Against this backdrop, the DGCA has moved to intensify its oversight activity. The regulator conducted 3,890 surveillance inspections, 56 audits, and hundreds of ramp and night checks during 2025.

Between January and March 2026, the DGCA carried out a further 41 audits across airlines, charter operators, and helicopter services — 29 special audits and 12 regulatory audits. The government informed Parliament of these figures in April 2026, with Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol confirming the numbers in a written Lok Sabha reply.

How India’s Category 1 History Frames the November Review

India’s IASA journey has been uneven. The country first achieved Category 1 status in August 1997. A December 2012 FAA audit identified deficiencies in the DGCA’s oversight, leading to a Category 2 downgrade in 2014. India regained Category 1 in 2014 and was re-affirmed in July 2018 and again in April 2023 — each time after the DGCA demonstrated corrective action on specific findings.

Following the April 2023 reaffirmation, the DGCA issued a statement that captured the tone it seeks to project ahead of this cycle:

“FAA has stated that DGCA has demonstrated a commitment towards ensuring an effective safety oversight of India’s aviation system and appreciated the positive manner in which DGCA has worked with them.”

The November 2026 review will be the first full IASA assessment since the AI171 crash, the IndiGo FDTL crisis, and the emergence of fleet-wide defect data. The FAA will evaluate whether the DGCA’s oversight capability is keeping pace with India’s extraordinary aviation growth — a market now ranked as the world’s third-largest domestic aviation market, with over 1,500 aircraft on order across Indian carriers and domestic passenger traffic growing at 6.9% annually.