New Delhi: India's aviation watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday made significant changes in the regulations pertaining to Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) for flight crew, in line with the international best practices which includes 'Extended Weekly Rest Periods for flight crew' and others.
This initiative has been taken amid the reports of pilots facing fatigues due to long hours duty. This development is likely to address rising complaints including enhancing overall flight safety and balance it with the projected growth of the aviation sector in the country.
The revised FDTL regulations are effective forthwith and the airline operators are required to comply with the revised regulations latest by June 1, 2024.
"With a view to address and mitigate concerns on pilot fatigue through a data driven approach, DGCA collected and analysed extensive numbers of pilot rosters along with pilot fatigue reports submitted by airline operators," the Ministry of Civil Aviation stated in a media statement.
"Based on the study and analysis, some of the key areas inducing fatigue such as maximum Flight Duty Period, Night Duty, Weekly Rest Period, Flight Duty Period Extension etc. were identified.The revised FDTL regulations have been formulated after extensive data analysis and feedback from various stakeholders which includes airline operators, pilot associations and individuals", it said.
The key highlights of this reforms includes 'Extended Weekly Rest Periods for flight crew' under which the revised regulations mandate has increased weekly rest periods from 36 hours to 48 hours for flight crew, thus ensuring sufficient time for recovery from cumulative fatigue.
Other reforms include amendment in the definition of night in 'night duty'. "The definition of night has been amended which now covers the period of 0000-0600 hours in the revised regulations vis-à-vis the period of 0000-0500 hours under the previous regulations. This enhancement of one hour during early morning will ensure adequate rest and also align the night duty period which encompasses Window of Circadian Low (WOCL) from 0200-0600 hours i.e. the time during which the circadian body clock cycle is at its lowest in terms of alertness", it said.
Similarly, the revised regulations have taken into consideration different types of operations across time zones. The maximum flight time and maximum flight duty period for flight operations encroaching night have been restricted to eight hours flight time and 10 hours flight duty period respectively and the number of landings have been limited to only two landings as compared to maximum permissible six landings under previous regulations during night operations, thus enhancing flight safety.
In addition, DGCA has mandated that all airline operators shall submit quarterly fatigue reports after analysis, including the action taken on such reports. Further, it has been stipulated that the fatigue reports shall follow a non-punitive and confidentiality policy.
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