The right flight path

DGCA aligns Indian rules with global norms

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has belatedly made a crucial course correction by mandating new regulations on flight duty time limitations (FDTL) for all airlines with effect from June 1. The new norms, involving longer rest periods, shorter night duty hours and landings, and mandated quarterly “fatigue reports” by airlines, are now more closely aligned with global standards and were overdue, given that India is one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets and the country’s major airports are becoming dangerously congested. Pilot fatigue has been one casualty of this frenetic growth in an ultra-competitive capital-intensive and low-margin business. India also had one of the world’s poorest records in terms of FDTL regulations.

Now weekly rest periods have been increased to 48 hours from 36, and the definition of “night” has been extended by an hour from midnight to 6 am. The maximum flight time and maximum flight duty period for flight operations that cover the night have been restricted to eight hours’ flight time and a 10-hour flight duty period, respectively. (Flight time is the time taken to operate a single flight and flight duty is the time taken to operate a consecutive series of flights.) Night landings will be limited to two against six earlier. The aviation watchdog reportedly started a review of FDTL procedures in August after a pilot died of cardiac arrest just ahead of boarding a flight he was scheduled to fly. His death caused outrage among pilots who claim that most airlines ignore their complaints of fatigue. Except for formerly government-owned Air India, no airline has a pilot’s union to negotiate these issues with managements.

The new FDTL rules alter those that had been put in place in 2019. Those, ironically, had relaxed the ones mandated in 2011. In 2019, for instance, the DGCA allowed pilots to operate passenger commercial flights for two consecutive nights once a week with the post-flight rest period reduced to 24 hours from the earlier 54. The 2019 rules were challenged in court by one of the Air India pilots’ unions, the Indian Pilots Guild, and the matter is being heard. This apart, the 2019 rules allowed airlines — under “unforeseen operational circumstances” — to extend a pilot’s flight time by a maximum of 4.5 hours and the flight duty period by a maximum of nine hours on a cumulative basis for a consecutive period of 28 days. Under the 2011 rules, the limit was three hours for flight time, and six hours for flight duty over 30 days.

The new rules will go some way towards preventing the problem of pilot fatigue from becoming a safety crisis. But much depends on how constructively airline managements approach the issue. Many will grumble about the intricacies of re-rostering, though a six-month window should be sufficient. The new norms will also require them to hire more pilots. Given the pilot shortage, this exercise will significantly raise costs at a time when the larger airlines have huge bills to pay for large aircraft orders. Fatigue reports are another grey area. Pilots who file more than four or five a month are sent on medical leave. Predictably, most pilots are reluctant to file such reports for risk of being deprived of flying allowances, which account for large chunks of their earnings. The DGCA’s next step could be to explore a more robust procedure to obtain accurate reportage of pilot fatigue.