FAA, after audits of DGCA in September and December 2013, had expressed severe concern over the lack of full-time FOIs.
In case of a downgrade by FAA, Indian airlines will not be able to increase the number of flights to the US.
Additional checks will be imposed on existing flights of Air India and Jet Airways.
“We have hired 20 FOIs and the process will continue till we complete hiring of 65.
The annual expenditure in salaries for the recruitments would be Rs 40 crore (Rs 400 million),” said a senior DGCA official.
The body had not been able to hire full-time FOIs due to its inability to pay them market-linked salaries.
FOIs are former pilots, paid as high as Rs 1 crore (Rs 10 million) annually by airlines.
Government rules do not permit such high salaries.
Hence, the FOIs are being hired now on contract, with government sanction.
The official said the financial concerns would be resolved once the proposed Civil Aviation Authority is formed to replace DGCA.
The government had in July 2013 given in-principle approval to this proposal of the ministry of civil aviation, to set up an autonomous CAA.
The bill to establish it was scheduled to be tabled in the monsoon session of Parliament but has been delayed since.
It might not happen in the coming session, too.
The CAA is estimated to get a yearly revenue of Rs 120 crore (Rs 1.2 billion) by levying a surcharge of Rs 5 on each passenger,
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