Centre approves appointment of Vikram Dev Dutt as next DGCA chief

• The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Vikram Dev Dutt as the next Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Dutt will take over the charge as the DGCA chief on February 28 after the superannuation of Arun Kumar, the incumbent DGCA chief.
• Notably, Dutt was appointed as the Chairman and Managing Director of Air India Ltd last year. 
• He was the last government-appointed Chairman and Managing Director of the airlines. In 2022, Air India was sold to Tata Group.
• Dutt also served as principal secretary for the health and family welfare department of the Delhi government. 
• He was the principal secretary for finance in the government of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

About DGCA: 

1. DGCA is a statutory body of the Central government to regulate civil aviation in India. 
2. It became a statutory body under the Aircraft (Amendment) Act, 2020.
3. Headquarters: New Delhi
4. Minister responsible: Suresh Prabhu
5. The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) was initially set up as a Cell in the DGCA in January 1978 on the recommendation of the Pande Committee