New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation ( DGCA) said it granted certain exemptions to airlines on night-duty rules so that they could maintain both stability and safety of operations.
“The variations are transitional in nature, aimed at ensuring a smooth and safe operational transition without compromising the regulatory intent,” the DGCA said in a statement. “These variations are to be reviewed with the operators after a period of six month from date of implementation.”
The civil aviation regulator had last year made the night-duty rules for pilots stringent. It amended the definition of night hours, extending the period by an hour—from midnight to 6 AM instead of 5 AM—and capped the number of landings a pilot can do during this period to two. It also limited the duty period to 10 hours.
While these rules were to come into effect on November 1, ET reported on Tuesday that the DGCA has allowed pilots to do three landings if their duty period falls between 12 AM and 1:55 AM or 5 AM and 6 AM. But airlines must provide pilots operating such flights rest for a period which is double that of the duty hours.
The Federation of Indian Pilots, which has been demanding implementation of strict regulations to prevent pilot fatigue and prioritise air safety, said the relaxations provided now violated DGCA’s own undertaking before the Delhi High Court where it had promised to implement the rules in full.
According to the pilots' body, research has shown operating during night hours, especially during 2-6 AM, is more fatigue-inducing as the body’s clock cycle is at its lowest in terms of alertness.
DGCA head Faiz Ahmed Kidwai said the regulator made the decision after considering factors such as early sunrise and extended daylight hours in the eastern and north-eastern regions.
“This calibrated and reasoned implementation approach reflects DGCA’s commitment to aviation safety, while maintaining operational stability. Such phased implementation, along with limited and temporary adjustments, is consistent with established regulatory practices,” Kidwai said.
According to people aware of the development, airlines in their consultation with the regulator had said increasing the night-duty period by an hour and limiting the number of landings would impact their day-to-day operations.
“There are airports in the Northeast where daylight starts early, but airports shut down early too due to limitation of infrastructure like absence of night-landing facilities,” an airline executive said. “For those airports, the departure from Delhi is around 5 AM. So according to the new rules, the pilot can do only two landings. This will not only reduce the utilisation of pilots, but will also require more pilots to be on standby during night hours.”
A permanent solution, he said, is to move away from a prescriptive model to allow airlines to develop their own safety management systems.
In this process known as Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS), airlines collect data and analyse them using software to monitor fatigue-inducing patterns or incidents among their pilots. Global aviation watchdog ICAO prescribes the use of FRMS against the traditional approach of regulators prescribing limits.
“The variations are transitional in nature, aimed at ensuring a smooth and safe operational transition without compromising the regulatory intent,” the DGCA said in a statement. “These variations are to be reviewed with the operators after a period of six month from date of implementation.”
The civil aviation regulator had last year made the night-duty rules for pilots stringent. It amended the definition of night hours, extending the period by an hour—from midnight to 6 AM instead of 5 AM—and capped the number of landings a pilot can do during this period to two. It also limited the duty period to 10 hours.
While these rules were to come into effect on November 1, ET reported on Tuesday that the DGCA has allowed pilots to do three landings if their duty period falls between 12 AM and 1:55 AM or 5 AM and 6 AM. But airlines must provide pilots operating such flights rest for a period which is double that of the duty hours.
The Federation of Indian Pilots, which has been demanding implementation of strict regulations to prevent pilot fatigue and prioritise air safety, said the relaxations provided now violated DGCA’s own undertaking before the Delhi High Court where it had promised to implement the rules in full.
According to the pilots' body, research has shown operating during night hours, especially during 2-6 AM, is more fatigue-inducing as the body’s clock cycle is at its lowest in terms of alertness.
DGCA head Faiz Ahmed Kidwai said the regulator made the decision after considering factors such as early sunrise and extended daylight hours in the eastern and north-eastern regions.
“This calibrated and reasoned implementation approach reflects DGCA’s commitment to aviation safety, while maintaining operational stability. Such phased implementation, along with limited and temporary adjustments, is consistent with established regulatory practices,” Kidwai said.
According to people aware of the development, airlines in their consultation with the regulator had said increasing the night-duty period by an hour and limiting the number of landings would impact their day-to-day operations.
“There are airports in the Northeast where daylight starts early, but airports shut down early too due to limitation of infrastructure like absence of night-landing facilities,” an airline executive said. “For those airports, the departure from Delhi is around 5 AM. So according to the new rules, the pilot can do only two landings. This will not only reduce the utilisation of pilots, but will also require more pilots to be on standby during night hours.”
A permanent solution, he said, is to move away from a prescriptive model to allow airlines to develop their own safety management systems.
In this process known as Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS), airlines collect data and analyse them using software to monitor fatigue-inducing patterns or incidents among their pilots. Global aviation watchdog ICAO prescribes the use of FRMS against the traditional approach of regulators prescribing limits.
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