The Directorate General for Civil Aviation (DGCA) has decided to review call signs given by air traffic controllers to all airlines in order to prevent confusion in the air, after incidents mid-air near misses between airplanes. 

A committee headed by DGCA’s joint director general Lalit Gupta has been formed to review the same, and will have representatives from the Airports Authority of India, domestic airlines and the Delhi airport. The move was triggered by an incident in 2014 when two aircraft of different foreign airlines came close to each other in the Kolkata airspace due to their call sign being similar. Both flights were bound for the same airport. 

“The air traffic controller would give clearance to one airline and due to similar call signs, it could be mistaken as clearance given to another airline which is a serious matter,” a DGCA official told reporters. “The Committee will review all the relevant regulations, international best practices and suggest measures for safety of aircraft operations,” said a letter written by Director General of Civil Aviation chief M. Sathiyavathy. The committee is mandated to submit its report by end of March. A call sign refers to the airline code and number which is allotted to a particular flight.