New flight duty time rules in works for airline crew
The Union government is working to revise the flight duty time limitations (FDTL) for airline crew.
The Union government is working to revise the flight duty time limitations (FDTL) for airline crew, with an aim to make is practical for both the crew and the airlines, two officials close to the development said.
The move comes months after a previous revision of FDTL, which was to come into effect from June 1 this year, had to be withdrawn amid concerns from the industry. Officials cited above said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) was reworking to revise the FDTL after industry experts raised concerns over crew fatigue and its impact on flight safety.
“The draft FDTL that was introduced in January this year could not be implemented as scrutiny revealed that they were not practical for the industry to implement them,” one of the officials said, requesting anonymity. “They were introduced with an aim to de-stress the crew.”
A second official, also declining to be named, said: “The DGCA is re-working on the duty time limitations in a way that it brings in relaxed duty hours for the pilots while not making it challenging for the industry to execute it.”
The proposed norms drafted by the aviation regulator in January had evoked mixed opinion from the industry experts, with some calling those much needed for the betterment of crew while others maintaining airlines would find it taxing to enforce them.
Airlines had claimed that the revised norms, which enhanced a pilot’s weekly rest period from 36 to 48 hours, would require them to hire around 20% more pilots, thereby increasing the cost for them besides impacting their flight operations.
The draft rules had also redefined the night duty for pilots and brought in restrictions on the number of landings that could be made if a pilot’s duty began or continued at night. The number of landings was brought down to two from the maximum permissible limit of six under regulations during night operations.
DGCA, however, rolled out a copy of the revised Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) on March 26 which postponed the move for an indefinite period.
Commenting on the development at the time, aviation expert Captain Shakti Lumba had alleged that DGCA reversed its stand, “thereby giving precedence to operator commercial interest over flight safety and public safety.”
The government’s aim, according to a third official, is to transition towards a new Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS), which will be a data-driven approach to enhance monitoring of flight crew fatigue.
Airlines seem to be slowly working towards reducing the fatigue reports by their crew. Last week, Tata-owned Air India brought in changes in its fatigue monitoring policy. The airline, which has a committee to examine fatigue calls by pilots and cabin crew, has now made it mandatory for the management to mark all fatigue calls in the system which will be further assessed by the airline’s medical and flight operations’ department.
“We are working towards bringing in FRMS soon,” the third official said, asking not to be named. “The DGCA is working to issue the new draft with revised FDTL norms and may issue them by the year-end.”