India’s aviation safety regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), has issued a directive to all Indian airlines to furnish timelines on when they will be able to comply with new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) rules. These rules, which are designed to combat pilot fatigue by instituting longer mandatory rest periods, have been a contentious issue between airlines and the regulator. The impetus for this engagement stems from a recent hearing at the Delhi High Court, where the regulator was asked to present tentative dates for the FDTL rules’ implementation. Originally slated to take effect from June 1, the rollout of the updated regulations faced significant delays due to pushback from airlines.
In a surprisingly swift turn of events that occurred on March 26, the DGCA announced the postponement of the new FDTL norms. The move followed instructions from the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) four days earlier, and it left the aviation sector without a clear timeline for the institutions of these changes. Instead, existing FDTL rules were permitted as the default until new internal company schemes were approved.
Airlines had expressed considerable angst over the updated regulations, which, apart from enforcing longer rest periods, also reduce the frequency of night landings. They argued that they would need to increase their pilot workforce by 20-25 percent to accommodate these changes—a challenging feat in such a brief window. The Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) had previously petitioned the DGCA in February to delay the implementation by a full year, warning of a 15-20 percent capacity reduction if forced to comply by June 1. However, until the surprise deferral, the DGCA seemed resolute in maintaining the June deadline.
The deferral granted temporary relief to airlines but also provoked a tidal wave of disappointment among pilots and their associations. Their discontent wasn’t just about the deferral; it was also rooted in the regulator’s apparent leniency towards airlines, not requiring a concrete compliance timeline.
On April 1, this ongoing issue once again surfaced in the legal arena as the Delhi High Court heard related FDTL cases. Justice Sudhir Kumar Jain highlighted the need for the DGCA to present an estimated implementation date during the next hearing, scheduled for May 8.
Addressing pilot fatigue is a critical safety concern in aviation. Excessive fatigue and stress have been linked to human error during flight operations, sometimes leading to disastrous consequences. The need for stringent rules became apparent after cases were reported of pilot deaths suspected to be caused by exhaustion. Moreover, pilots have voiced their concerns about the extreme demands placed upon them in terms of flying hours, ill-structured scheduling, and high utilization rates as airlines expand their operations, as recently illustrated by a mass sick leave taken by Vistara pilots, resulting in network-wide flight disruptions.
Under the new rules, pilots will see an increase in mandatory weekly rest periods from 36 to 48 hours, along with a reduction in night flying. These changes necessitate increased pilot hiring and training or potential scaling back of airline operations. The obstacle for the airlines is the extensive time required to recruit, train, and deploy new pilots, making a hasty deadline impractical for maintaining current operations.
Advocates for the quick implementation of the new FDTL rules argue that airlines had sufficient notice since the new regulations were notified in January and discussions on the matter had occurred long before that. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) requires national regulations to mitigate fatigue, and various global aviation bodies, such as the FAA and EASA, offer guidelines reflecting their best practices.
India’s current FDTL rules, established in 2019, delineate maximum flight duty periods based on landings and flight time, as well as mandatory rest periods and guidelines for night operations. Within this framework, airlines must develop their own fatigue management strategies. Pilots also bear responsibility and are prohibited from operating flights if they exceed time limitations or if they are aware or suspect that fatigue may compromise flight safety.
Additionally, airlines are tasked with instructing flight crew on fatigue management and establishing a non-punitive, confidential system for reporting crew fatigue. These measures underline pilots’ rights to refuse flight operation assignments when FDTL norms or fatigue reasons merit such decisions. As the industry and the regulator continue to maneuver through these turbulent issues, safety remains the paramount consideration, and a clear path forward for the implementation of new FDTL regulations is eagerly anticipated by all stakeholders.
