FAA delays Jet Airways United code share agreement, diplomatic protest launched

The US aviation regulator, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), has delayed permission to a code-sharing agreement between Jet Airways (India) Ltd and United Air Lines Inc., as per the Mint.

The code share agreement would have given Jet Airways passengers access to United’s five hubs of Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, and access to 20 other cities across the US, while United passengers would have been able to connect to 13 cities in India, including Bangalore, Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi.

India currently enjoys a category I status in the United States and the delay in permissions are very surprising. Jet Airways has has lodged a complaint against the delay at India’s civil aviation ministry, which will be taken up by India through diplomatic channels.

The FAA intends to do an IASA (international aviation safety assessment) review of infrastructure and safety procedures followed by India’s regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in the next three months, and India is facing the threat of downgrade to Category II status.

This will surely create relationship problems in the aviation sector, one of the key areas of trade and cooperation between the two countries. The upcoming 126 multi-role fighter aircraft deal, in which Lockheed Martin and Boeing are leading contenders, may also be threatened.

Read the full Mint article.