The Society for the Welfare of Indian Pilots (Swip), a body formed by Jet Airways pilots, served a legal notice to the aviation regulator on Monday alleging that it was tweaking new rules that decide the flight duty timing limitations for flight crew to suit the airline’s commercial convenience.
The notice states that after giving 30 days to comment on the rule was made public in August 2011, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) gave three chances to Jet Airways to seek clarification on it. “It seems the airlines are deciding rules that determine the safety of passengers, not the regulator,” said a Swip member requesting anonymity.
The new rule that came into effect on February 25 gave a waiver to long haul international flights operated by Air India and Jet Airways. In 2010, an RTI filed by the Indian pilots’ guild an AI pilots union revealed the DGCA had given dispensation on crew duty hours to these two airlines purely because they were facing a pilot shortage.
Despite several attempts DGCA chief Bharat Bhushan did not reply to HT’s calls.
{{/usCountry}}Despite several attempts DGCA chief Bharat Bhushan did not reply to HT’s calls.
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