Following concerns raised by pilots over mounting fatigue due to increased flying in a fast-growing domestic aviation market, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has revised the norms regulating their duty hours by reducing night-time flying and enhancing weekly rest.
Airlines will have to comply with the revised Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR) on Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) by June 1.
In a significant relief, pilots rostered to fly planes between midnight and 6 a.m., which falls in the window of circadian low that can impact sleep cycles and alertness levels and is categorised as “night duty”, cannot carry out more than two landings, instead of the six permitted earlier. No pilot can be rostered for more than two consecutive night duties.
The definition of night duty has also been expanded from the duty period of midnight to 5 a.m by raising the upper ceiling to 6 a.m.
“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,” the DGCA said in a press statement.
However, one of the strongest demands from pilots to abolish two consecutive night landings remains unheeded. Pilots say that flying a second night without a reset of circadian rhythm is extremely stressful, and claim that it has also led to an increase in the number of pilots being declared temporarily unfit.
The new norms allow pilots a weekly rest period of “continuous 48 hours”, up from the earlier 36 hours, including two local nights (a period of eight hours falling between 10 p.m and 8 a.m local time).
The rules require airlines to publish crew roster “sufficiently in advance” in order to help pilots plan their week ahead. However, pilots lament that the time frame has not been defined unambiguously. In the old version, the DGCA had proposed that rosters be finalised seven days in advance.
The DGCA also wants airlines to submit an analysis of fatigue reports given by their pilots on a quarterly basis along with an action taken report.
The aviation watchdog said in its press statement that it plans to soon adopt a new regime of fatigue management, known as the Fatigue Risk Management System, which is a data-driven approach to enhance monitoring and reporting of flight crew fatigue.
Pilots have broadly welcomed the revised norms as a step in the right direction. However, they say “dead-heading”, or the practice of transferring a non-flying pilot from one place to another for operating a flight later, should also have been included in the definition of duty period.
They have also demanded that the rest period following night flights should be defined unambiguously.
Another important demand is the need for pilots to be allowed to file fatigue reports directly to the regulatory body as airlines were known to put pressure on their crew not to file them, or have often failed to take corrective actions.
