MC Exclusive: DGCA plans to roll out new pilot fatigue norms from July 1

Several pilots groupings had filed a writ petition in the Delhi High Court in 2019 against the norms formulated by the regulator on pilot duty and rest hours.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) plans to implement new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) rules, which include longer mandatory rest periods among other mitigation measures for better management of stress and fatigue among pilots, from July 1, multiple officials aware of the ongoing discussion told Moneycontrol.

"The DGCA will submit a detailed affidavit to the Delhi High Court next month with a timeline for the implementation of the new FDTL in a phased manner from July 1," a senior government official told Moneycontrol.

He added that all aviation industry participants including airlines, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA), DGCA and pilots' bodies have agreed to rollout the FDTL norms from that date in a phased manner, but some new aspects are still under discussion which will likely be rolled out from November 1, 2025.

Another senior government official told Moneycontrol that all Indian airlines have agreed to implement the new FDTL norms and have assured the DGCA and MoCA that their operations would not be affected.

"Airlines have submitted data with the DGCA that shows that they have sufficient pilots to implement new FDTL norms without a reduction in flights during the peak summer travel period," the second government official said.

On January 23, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati, appearing on behalf of the DGCA, had informed the Delhi High Court bench of justice Tara Vitasta Ganju that the DGCA would place on record a detailed affidavit for the implementation of the new FDTL norms soon. The court granted the DGCA till February 24 to do so.

Moneycontrol has seen a copy of the court order issued on January 23.

"Learned ASG appearing for the Respondent No.1 (DGCA) submits that so far as concerns the rolling out of the Civil Aviation Requirements of 2024 [CAR 2024], the Respondents have decided that a majority of these regulations shall be rolled out by 01.07.2025 while a smaller part (aspects which are still being considered) shall be rolled out by 01.11.2025," the court order read.

Emails sent to the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), MoCA and DGCA remained unanswered till the time of publishing.

The FDTL standards are laid down by the DGCA, the country's aviation safety regulator, to ensure adequate rest timings for pilots and flight attendants and prevent fatigue-related safety issues.

The DGCA as part of the safety norms implemented in 2019 mandates that all airlines follow FDTL rules, which include ones such as limiting on-flight times for all crew members to a maximum of 8 hours in a day, 35 hours in a week, 125 hours in a month and 1,000 hours in a year.

Another rule says that every crew member shall be given rest, which will be pro-rata twice the flight time subject to a minimum of 10 hours in any 24 consecutive hours.

The issue of pilot fatigue has come to the forefront in the past year as aviators' flying hours have increased over the past few years thanks to a growing network of flights and destinations, coupled with shortage of pilots.

Pilots have raised concerns that more often than not, they work for the maximum permissible hours with erratic schedules, limited physical and mental rest amid uncertainty, and malpractices in rostering.

In January 2024 the DGCA issued a new set of FDTL norms allowing airlines until June 1, 2024, to implement them. These norms had proposed to reduce pilots’ night-time flying and enhanced their weekly rest from 36 hours to 48 hours.

The aviation regulator deferred the planned implementation of the new FDTL rules in March 2024.

The decision to postpone the rollout was in line with directions issued to the DGCA by the MoCA in March 2024. The aviation safety regulator announced the postponement without mentioning a new implementation timeline, and allowed carriers to continue following the existing FDTL rules till the time their own schemes as per the new rules are approved.

Following the DGCA's decision to defer implementation of the new FDTL norms, four cases connected to FDTL came up for hearing before the Delhi High Court.

The court on December 6, 2024, had asked the DGCA to consider implementing the new proposed norms on duty and rest timings for pilots from early 2025 to ensure sufficient rest for pilots, in order to minimise the risk of untoward incidents.

Hearing a writ petition filed by the Federation of Indian Pilots, the union representing pilots of Air India, the Indian Pilots’ Guild and the Indian Commercial Pilots’ Guild, Ganju had on December 6, 2024, asked the DGCA to hold a meeting with pilots' association, airlines and MoCa on December 18, 2024, to come out with a timeline for the implementation of the new proposed FDTL norms.

DGCA had put the new rules on hold after facing severe resistance from airlines that warned the rules would force them to cancel 20 percent of the flights at the peak of the summer travel season. The regulator had in March 2024 said that airlines can continue to comply with the old FDTL norms, issued in 2019, "till approval of their respective scheme in compliance with this CAR (civil aviation requirement)".

The FIA, an industry body, had opposed the new norms on the grounds that the six-month timeline for implementation was inadequate as enhanced rest meant airlines would now need to hire "10 percent to 20 percent" more pilots, failing which there would be flight cancellations.