The central challenge in reforming India’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is not merely establishing "formal independence," but ensuring "functional insulation" from the immense pressure exerted by corporate lobbies and political actors. To prevent the regulator from becoming "independent on paper but dependent in practice," the text proposes a comprehensive seven-layer framework that includes securing fixed tenure for officials, implementing independent funding via statutory levies to bypass ministry control, and enforcing a "cooling-off" period to close the "revolving door" between regulators and airlines. This structural defence is designed to be upheld by a balanced Joint Parliamentary Committee rather than the executive branch, ensuring that safety decisions are transparent, ethically grounded in principles like Dharma, and prioritizse over economic or commercial considerations.