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India Shows Aviation Regulator the Door

The reasons for E.K. Bharat Bhushan's sudden exit are unclear, but a ministry official said it was a routine move.

India's Civil Aviation Ministry sprang a surprise Tuesday, removing the country's aviation regulator E.K. Bharat Bhushan from his post barely a week after his tenure was extended to December.

Local media cited Mr. Bhushan as saying he was in the midst of preparing a report recommending that ailing Kingfisher Airlines Ltd. be closed down. Mr. Bhushan, who has described Kingfisher's weak finances as a matter of "grave concern", finally seemed ready to crack the whip on the cash-strapped airline which has failed to clear pilots' salaries for several months, leading to doubts over its ability to maintain safe operations.

There is no official statement on Mr. Bhushan's exit, but an official at India's aviation ministry Wednesday confirmed that he has been asked to leave. His tenure extension was approved only last week by an Indian parliamentary body that looks after government appointments.

The reasons for his sudden exit are unclear, but the ministry official said it was a routine move. He blamed procedural flaws for the extension.

"He was slated to go... and the [aviation] minister hadn't approved his extension," the official said.

Following an investigation led by Mr. Bhushan into unlawful practices in India's aviation industry, including the use of fake licenses, several pilots and officials at the regulator's office were expelled or arrested last year. The investigation covered more than 10,000 licenses issued to pilots and about 4,000 licenses granted to trainers, according to newspaper reports.

He had also summoned India's only profit-making airline, IndiGo, when he thought it had a lax approach to maintaining safety standards. Kingfisher, given its troubled past, was no different.