Preamble - AIRCRAFT (FIRST AMENDMENT) RULES, 2021

AIRCRAFT (FIRST AMENDMENT) RULES, 2021

PREAMBLE

Whereas, the draft of certain rules further to amend the Aircraft Rules, 1937, was published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, as required by section 14 of the Aircraft Act, 1934 (22 of 1934), vide notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Civil Aviation, number G.S.R. 750 (E), dated the 30th November, 2020, inviting objections and suggestions from all persons likely to be affected thereby, before the expiry of a period of thirty days from the date on which copies of the Gazette of India in which the said notification was published were made available to public;

And whereas, copies of the Gazette containing the said notification were made available to the public on the 3rd December, 2020;

And whereas, the objections and suggestions received from the public in respect of the draft rules within the period specified have been taken into consideration;

Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by section 4 and 5 of the Aircraft Act, 1934 (22 of 1934), the Central Government hereby makes the following rules further to amend the Aircraft Rules, 1937, namely: -

Rule 1 - Short title and commencement

(1) These rules may be called the Aircraft (First Amendment) Rules, 2021.

(2) They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

Rule 2 - RULE 2

In the Aircraft Rules, 1937,-

(A) in rule 97, in sub-rule (3), -

(a) for the words "the Director-General may authorise", the words "the Director-General or any other organisation specifically authorised by the Director-General for this purpose may authorise" shall be substituted;

(b) after clause (i) and before Explanation, the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:-

"Provided that rating of such newly established air traffic service unit may be endorsed on the licence, after the licence holder gains the experience as specified by the Director-General, for the relevant Section of Schedule III, wherein requirement of knowledge, skill and experience shall be considered to be complied with.";

(B) in rule 111, in sub-rule (2), for the words "Indian Air force or Indian Navy", the words "the naval, military or air forces of the Union or other armed forces of the Union constituted by any law for the time being in force" shall be substituted;

(C) in Schedule III, -

(a) in Section A, -

(i) in paragraph 2,-

(1) in clause (a) and (c), for the words "Class X certificate", the words "Class X certificate/marks sheet" shall be substituted;

(2) in clause (b), for the words "office of the Director-General", the words "Directorate General of Civil Aviation" shall be substituted;

(ii) in paragraph 3, for clause (b), the following clause shall be substituted, namely:-

"(b) The date of application shall be the date on which the application is received in the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.";

(iii) in paragraph 4, after clause (a), the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:-

"Provided that when two air traffic controller ratings are sought concurrently, the licence holder shall meet the examination requirements of both the ratings.";

(iv) in paragraph 5, the following proviso shall be inserted, namely:-

"Provided that when two air traffic controller ratings are sought concurrently, the licence holder shall meet the skill requirements of both the ratings.";

(v) in paragraph 6, for clause (b), the following clause shall be substituted, namely:-

"(b) The application for a rating shall be made within six months from the completion of experience specified in Sections D, E, F, G, H and J:

Provided that the applicant shall have completed at least 10 hours of experience in preceding six months from the date of application.";

(vi) for the paragraph 7, the following paragraph shall be substituted, namely:-

"7. Experience requirement.- The holder of a Student Air Traffic Controller's Licence or an Air Traffic Controller's Licence shall be required to undergo the on-the-job training under the supervision of an instructor for the period and duration of hours specified in the relevant Section of this Schedule for grant of a particular rating:

Provided that when an applicant already holds or held the rating of any other unit at the same air traffic services station, or the same rating of another air traffic services station, on being satisfied and subject to the conditions specified by the Director-General, on the basis of traffic volume of the air traffic unit for which the rating is being sought and experience of the licence holder, the licensing authority may approve the on-the-job training of a shorter period and duration of hours than the one specified in the relevant section of this Schedule.

Provided further that when two air traffic controller ratings are sought concurrently, the licence holder shall meet the experience requirements of the rating which requires the higher experience for such rating.

Explanation. - For the purpose of this paragraph, instructor means an air traffic control (ATC) on-the-job training instructor (OJTI).";

(vii) in paragraph 9, for the words "a period of three days", the words "not more than ten days" shall be substituted;

(b) in Section C, in paragraph 1, in clause (e), for the word "completed", the words "demonstrated the required competence, having accomplished" and for the words "air traffic controller", the word "instructor" shall be substituted;

(c) in Sections D, E, and G, in paragraph 1, in clause (b), the words "under the supervision of an instructor or authorised Air Traffic Controller's Licence holder" and proviso shall be omitted;

(d) in Section E, in paragraph 4, in clause (a), for the words "airspace jurisdiction", the words "airspace jurisdiction or portion thereof" shall be substituted;

(e) in Section F, in paragraph 1, in clause (b), for sub-clause (ii), the following sub-clause shall be substituted, namely :-

"(ii) having undergone on-the-job training for a period of not less than three months, during which at least one hundred and eighty hours of training has been completed, at the unit for which the rating is sought:

Provided that the requirement as specified in sub-clause (i) shall not be required for an air traffic controller holding or having held an Approach/Area Surveillance Rating for any other aerodrome.";

(f) in Section H, in paragraph 1, in clause (b), for sub-clause (ii), the following sub-clause shall be substituted, namely :-

"(ii) undergone on-the-job training for a period of not less than three months, during which at least one hundred and eighty hours of training has been completed, at the unit for which the rating is sought:

Provided that the requirement as specified in sub-clause (i) shall not be required for an air traffic controller holding or having held an Approach/Area Surveillance Rating for any other aerodrome."

(g) in Section J, in paragraph 1, in clause (b), in sub-clause (ii), the words "under the supervision of an instructor or authorised Air Traffic Controller" and proviso shall be omitted.