DGCA duty hour rule adds to pilot shortage

Under the guidelines, pilots have less time to fly.

New flight duty time limitations (FDTL) issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) are worsening an already acute pilot shortage and adding Rs 300 crore to the industry's burden by way of fresh recruitment.

Under the guidelines, pilots have less time to fly and airlines say they will have to recruit 20 to 25 per cent more pilots, at a time when there is a shortage of pilots across the globe.

The DGCA has included non-flying hours within an overall annual duty cap of 1,600 hours per pilot, within which the number of flying hours has been capped at 1,000 hours a year.

The earlier cap, at 1,000 hours, was restricted to the number of flying hours. Now, the time that pilots lose owing to delays, airport congestion or diversions, will all be counted within the duty cap.

The DGCA has also increased the mandatory rest period for a pilot per day from eight to ten hours. 
 

DUTY BOUND
Current number of pilots in the country	Estimated shortage following new DGCA duty guidelines
2,500	500
Current shortage of pilots	Estimated extra cost for the industry
1,000	Rs 300 crore

Airline companies have protested against the guidelines. The DGCA issued these in August but airlines have just begun to feel the impact. "We have already written to the DGCA about this but there has been no response," said an Air India executive.

Airlines say that their rostering operations have gone for a spin.

"Now, flight duty starts for a pilot from the time he leaves for work unlike earlier when it started when he reported for duty," said the executive, adding, "Delayed flights or congestion at the metro airports add to his duty time."

This, he explained, impacts operational utility. For instance, if a pilot's duty time for a year is 1,000 hours, around 15 per cent of that, or 50 hours, can be wasted only in the delays.

Diversions also cause problems. Take, for instance, a night flight that is diverted from, say, Delhi to Jaipur. If a pilot's duty started early in the morning, he can easily say his duty hours are over, though most of them have been spent on the ground.

In such a situation, as an executive of a low-cost carrier pointed out, the only option is to send another pilot to Jaipur to fly the plane to Delhi. "Arranging for a reserve source becomes a huge issue," the executive said.

Air Deccan, which has around 450 pilots, has estimated that the guidelines will require it to recruit 15 to 20 per cent more. Air India and SpiceJet also estimate a 20 per cent additional requirement.

For pilots flying aircraft that land at midnight, the guidelines also stipulate extra two hours' rest "" over and above the stipulated rest period "" for every hour of delay past midnight.

"Apart from creating problems in rostering pilots, this would discourage airlines from starting night flights," said a SpiceJet executive.