DGCA rejects airline request to postpone new pilot duty norms

March 16, 2024 01:02 pm | Updated 01:37 pm IST - New Delhi

The DGCA has turned down a request from airlines to postpone the implementation of new norms governing pilot duty hours that provide for more rest from June 1, emphasising that instances of recent pilot deaths seemingly due to “punishing rosters” was a wake up call for them.

Underlining that the need to address fatigue among crew was of paramount importance, the DGCA wrote to the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) on March 14, “the unfortunate instances of pilot deaths in the recent past ostensibly due to punishing roster schedules and consequent cumulative attendant impact on flight crew health and well-being is an urgent wake up call to address the issue without further delay.”

The regulator reiterated that the airlines must take all necessary steps to implement the revised rules from June 1 and also submit their internal company schemes conforming to the new norms by April 15.

The FIA, which represents IndiGo, Air India and SpiceJet, wrote to the DGCA earlier warning that implementing the new norms from June 1 “will have immediate and significant impact on businesses and customers alike” as airlines will require “15%-25%” more pilots.

In its January 8 notification, the DGCA revised pilot duty hours to provide for more rest time and restrict night flying that pilot claimed disturbed their circadian rhythm and alertness levels and contributed to mounting levels of fatigue.

The DGCA expanded the definition of night duty which was earlier from midnight to 5 a.m. by raising the upper ceiling to 6 a.m. It also restricted the maximum number of landings a pilot could carry out during night hours to two from the earlier six and reduced flight time during night duty from 10 hours to eight.

In August 2023, an IndiGo pilot Manoj Balasubramani, who was rostered to fly a Nagpur to Pune flight fell unconscious at the boarding gate due to a cardiac arrest and passed away soon after. This renewed calls from pilots to look at mounting fatigue levels among them asthere was an “exponential increase” in flying post Covid, while airlines were simultaneously grappling with crew shortage.