DGCA terminates flight operations chief on ‘administrative grounds and public interest’
Captain Shweta Singh, deputy CFOI, would hold the charge of CFOI in addition to her current duties with immediate effect until further orders, the DGCA said
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Wednesday terminated the contract of its chief flight operations inspector (CFOI), Captain Vivek Chhabra, on “administrative grounds and in public interest”, a statement from the aviation regulator said.
“On the basis of confidential inputs…associated relevant provisions of the terms and conditions of his engagement, the contract of Capt. Vivek Chhabra, CFOI stands terminated with immediate effect on administrative grounds and in public interest,” the letter from the DGCA stated.
According to the termination letter dated January 24, Capt. Chhabra joined the DGCA in March 2021 as the CFOI on an ad hoc basis, and his contract was extended to June 2025.
Further, according to the order, Capt. Shweta Singh, deputy CFOI, will hold the charge as the CFOI.
“Captain Shweta Singh, deputy CFOI, will hold the charge of CFOI in addition to her current duties with immediate effect until further orders,” the letter read.
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Officials in the know of the matter said no complaints against officer Chhabra were received for his termination. The aviation regulator, however, has been on a spree to make internal changes since last year.
In November last year, the DGCA transferred Capt. Anil Gill, the head of flight training department to head of Aerosports, after an anonymous complaint of corruption was received against him.
The complaint alleged that Gill used his position to coerce pilots and flying schools or flying training organisations (FTO) into paying kickbacks to companies linked to him to look the other way if they were found to have violated rules and protocols.
In some cases, FTOs that could not pay the bribe, Gill sold their aircraft at “nominal prices” to the companies linked to him – Bluethroat Aero Global and Sabres Corporate Solutions, the letter read.
These companies would then lease these mostly light aircraft for flight training to other FTOs at rates as high as ₹90 lakh a year.
Union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia had expressed “zero tolerance for malpractices”.
On 3.11.2023, the DGCA transferred nine officers from different departments mostly from Regional offices, who had no connection with Captain Anil Gill’s case.
“The DGCA transferred the officials who were never involved in any such case,” an official on condition of anonymity said.
“The regulator needs to act upon the miscreants and not the officials who have no mischievous records,” said a former DGCA official.
