The Directorate General of Civil Aviation had notified the revised rules governing responsibility hours and rest intervals for pilots in January 2024. Photo: dgca.gov.in/
The story thus far: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has rejected a request by airways to postpone new pilot responsibility norms, reiterating that the revised schedule should be applied from June 1. The DGCA had notified the revised rules governing responsibility hours and rest intervals for pilots in January.
What are the new rules?
The new rules present enhanced weekly rest for pilots which has gone up from 36 hours to 48 hours. The rules have additionally diminished night-time flying, which is identified to contribute to fatigue and impression alertness ranges as sleep is displaced from the optimum a part of the circadian rhythm.
Earlier, a pilot might perform six landings throughout night-time flying, which has now been diminished to 2. The night-time shift has been prolonged by an hour to six a.m, from the earlier midnight to five a.m. The most flight responsibility interval for flights encroaching night-time has additionally been diminished from 10 hours to eight hours. While pilots have broadly welcomed the modifications, their demand for a ban on two consecutive night time duties went unheeded. Pilots say that flying a second night time with out a reset of the circadian rhythm is extraordinarily aggravating. Consecutive night time duties end in accumulation of sleep debt and a rise in fatigue associated impairment. According to IATA’s Fatigue Management Guide for airways, restoration of waking alertness and efficiency after accumulating a sleep debt might take longer than two nights of unrestricted sleep.
Pilots additionally identified that airways are solely required to publish the crew roster “sufficiently in advance” and the time-frame has not been outlined unambiguously. The draft rules positioned for stakeholder feedback had proposed that rosters be finalised seven days upfront.
The DGCA additionally needs airways to submit an evaluation of fatigue experiences submitted by pilots on a quarterly foundation together with an motion taken report. It has additionally stated that it plans to undertake a new regime of fatigue administration, referred to as the Fatigue Risk Management System, which is a data-driven strategy to boost monitoring and reporting of flight crew fatigue although pilots are apprehensive that this might scale back present rest intervals prescribed in the rules.
Why are the airways against it?
The Federation of Indian Airlines, FIA, comprising Air India, IndiGo and SpiceJet, wrote to the DGCA in February searching for postponement of the June 1 implementation deadline because it might have “immediate and significant impact to business and customers alike” as airways can be required to rent “15% to 25% more pilots” when it takes roughly 8-10 months to launch a newly inducted pilot for flying. The FIA warned that the June 1 deadline might end in the cancellation of 15%-20% of flights by most airways in addition to cancellation of some long-haul worldwide flights. In response, the DGCA reiterated that it’s going to persist with the June 1 deadline.
A senior DGCA official instructed The Hindu that by talking about flight cancellations throughout the peak summer season journey season, airways had been indulging in “scaremongering”. He stated {that a} six-month time-frame for implementation was supplied maintaining in thoughts {that a} business pilot licence holder, who has accomplished his coaching on a selected kind of plane akin to an A320 or Boeing 737 MAX, didn’t want greater than 4 months to be cleared for flying.
Is fatigue mounting?
In a primary, the DGCA has acknowledged that unlucky cases of pilot deaths in the current previous had been “ostensibly” as a result of punishing schedules and cumulative impression on well being and well-being of pilots, which it stated was an “urgent wake up call” for the trade. There had been at the very least three such deaths whereas on responsibility, together with the loss of life of IndiGo pilot, Manoj Balasubramani, who fell unconscious at the boarding gate after reporting for responsibility to function a flight from Nagpur to Pune on August 17, 2023. He was rushed to hospital, the place he handed away.
Pilots say that not solely has flying elevated for them in the previous 5 years, a rising route community past metros has resulted in harder mixture of flights, which contain extra landings and are subsequently strenuous. For instance, the return leg of a global flight is typically mixed with a further home flight. There are additionally extra pink eye flights to short-haul locations akin to in the Gulf and Singapore. Add to this an uncertainty of roster, the place a pilot will be referred to as in for a flight for 4 a.m. with only a 12-hour discover. “Denying a duty in such circumstances can lead to disciplinary proceedings,” stated a senior pilot of a full-service provider. Pilots recall Jet Airways days the place a printed roster was sacrosanct. There are additionally rostering malpractices, the place pilots are compelled to work past their most responsibility hours or supplied much less rest intervals than what is laid down. On March 22, the DGCA imposed a nice of ₹80 lakh on Air India after it found lapses throughout a spot test in January.
How many pilots are registered with DGCA?
Many airways like Air India and Vistara are already grappling with pilot shortages in comparison with plane power. As on December 2023, there have been a complete of 771 plane with numerous Indian airways and 9,524 business pilots registered with the DGCA. Additionally, there have been 67 overseas pilots too as a result of a scarcity of commanders on sure plane kind akin to the Boeing 777. India’s business airways are more likely to almost double fleet measurement to 1,400 by fiscal yr 2029-30, reveals CAPA information. This will imply airways should add 10,900 extra pilots by 2030, which is almost 1,600 new pilots a yr. Last yr, the regulator issued 1,272 business pilot licences.
