New Delhi:The Delhi High Court on Monday directed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to strictly adhere to its timeline on implementing the revised norms on duty and rest hours for pilots in a phased manner starting July 1.
Justice Tara Vitasta Ganju was informed by the counsel for the DGCA that they had filed an affidavit stating of the 22 modified clauses of the civil aviation requirement (CAR), 15 would be rolled out from July 1, 2025 and the remaining would put in place by November 1. "Respondents are bound by the contents of the February 19, 2025 affidavit," the court said while posting the matter on April 1.
The counsel for petitioner pilots associations urged the court to pass directions that the timelines set out by the respondents in the affidavit should be strictly adhered to.
To this, the counsel for the DGCA said, "We have already filed the affidavit and we are bound by the affidavit. The court may consider disposing of the writ petitions as nothing survives in the pleas now." The court was hearing pleas filed by Indian Commercial Pilots Association, Indian Pilots Guild and Federation of Indian Pilots relating to DGCA's revised flight duty time limitations.
The petitioners' counsel sought time to take instructions on the issues which survive in the petitions. The watchdog's revised CAR 2024 relates to flight duty time limitation and seeks to provide more rest time for pilots amid concerns over pilot fatigue. Initially, it was to be implemented from June 1, 2024.
Among other aspects, airlines would ensure that there was not more than 168 hours between the end of one weekly rest period and the start of the next under the revised norms. DGCA has submitted an affidavit in court on the phased implementation of the roadmap after considering the outcome of the minutes of the meetings among the representatives from the airlines, pilot groups and the civil aviation ministry.
Its counsel said substantial progress was made in the matter over the rolling out of CAR and that the authorities decided to implement majority of the regulations by July 1, 2025 whereas a smaller part (aspects which are still being considered) would be rolled out by November 1, 2025.
The counsel for the pilots' associations previously said, in principle, CAR 2024 was acceptable, subject to certain conditions. The counsel said if implemented, majority of the grievances would be addressed. Several significant changes were brought to the existing norms to tackle fatigue among pilots. The affidavit said the weekly rest periods were to be increased from the current 36 hours to 48 hours.
"An operator shall ensure that the minimum weekly rest of continuous 48 hours including two local nights is provided such that there shall never be more than 168 hours between the end of one weekly rest period and the start of the next," it said.
The affidavit added, "The operator shall provide weekly rest at home base/temporary home base. Note 2: The 168 hours shall be calculated from the end of the preceding weekly rest period." As per CAR, the maximum flight time and maximum flight duty period for flight operations at night were to be restricted to eight hours and ten hours, respectively.
The number of landings at night was to be confined to two landings compared to the present six.The high court had asked the DGCA to have a meeting with the associations, airlines and the ministry.
