eGCA portal upgrade: Pilot dreams no longer stuck on the runway

Representation pic/iStock

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has decentralised several flight crew licensing services under its eGCA (Electronic Governance of Civil Aviation) portal, a move expected to reduce processing time and ease the workload at its New Delhi headquarters.

In a public notice issued on July 2, the aviation regulator announced that applications for select licences and endorsements will now be also processed at its regional offices in Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Bengaluru.

The licences in question are

. Issuance of CPL - A (Commercial Pilots Licence with/without instrument rating)
. Issuance of Flight Radio Telephone Operator Licence (FRTOL)
. Issuance of FRTOL - R
. Issuance of Flight Instructor Rating
. issuance of Assistant FIR
. P1/P2 endorsement
. Type rating extensions

The notice issued by DGCA. Pic/By Special Arrangement

PilotSpeaks

Welcoming the decision, a pilot with one of India's leading airlines said the move is a step towards the future of civil aviation. "Demand for pilots, aviation professionals and infrastructure will grow significantly in the coming years. Faster processing will help aspiring pilots obtain their licences sooner and enter the workforce earlier," the pilot said.

He added, "In countries like the US, the licence is given as soon as the applicant finishes their training course, hopefully in the next decade we get to that as well."

Long process to get licence

According to pilots in the industry, obtaining a Commercial Pilot Licence currently takes around two to three months. They believe the new system will help shorten processing timelines by distributing applications across regional offices.

As per the DGCA notice, once an application is successfully submitted through the eGCA portal, applicants will automatically receive an email and SMS informing them whether their application has been assigned to the headquarters or a regional office for processing.