NEW DELHI: India’s largest pilot association, the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), on Tuesday wrote to the Prime Minister’s Office and the Civil Aviation Ministry against the recent moves taken by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) over the modification of Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) for the cockpit crew.
Stating that these actions amount to a contempt of court, the body has threatened to sue the regulator if it does not withdraw its orders immediately.
FIP is a public trust representing 6,000 pilots and aviation professionals across India. A day earlier, another pilot body, the Airlines Pilots Association of India (ALPA-India), had called upon the DGCA to withdraw its orders on flight duty hours.
In a notice issued to the DGCA, which has also been sent to the Ministry and the PMO office, the FIP stated that the FDTL regulations are in contravention of the undertaking and affidavit filed before the High Court of Delhi on February 19, 2025, in the FIP Vs DGCA writ petition (616/2023).
Due to the need to reroute flights on account of the closed Pakistani airspace, the DGCA had permitted airlines an extension of the Flight Duty Period (FDP) by one hour on eight Boeing 787 flights from Sunday (October 26).
The FDP has been extended to 14 hours from the existing 13 hours on eight Dreamliner flights which operate with two crew members.
FDP starts when the crew is required to report for flight duty and ends when the aircraft comes to rest at the end and the engines are shut down.
Notably, the regulator has also extended the flight time by 30 minutes – from 10 hours to 10.30 hours.
The DGCA has temporarily allowed pilots to perform three landings during duty periods between 12 a.m. and 1:55 a.m. or between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m., an increase from the previous limit of two landings. However, airlines were mandatorily told to provide rest for a period that is double of duty hours while operating such flights.
Captain CS Radhawa, FIP president, told that the DGCA had sought exemption from the Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) 2024 to relax these rules for the airlines.
“Only in the case of exceptional circumstances, can there be a non-compliance with the CARs. There is just no shortage of manpower. Pilots presently fly anywhere between 45 and 50 hours per month. They are actually permitted to fly upto 80 hours per month. So, the present situation does not warrant any extension of flying hours for anyone,” he said.
The notice urged the DGCA to immediately withdraw or rescind any communication, order of instruction granting extension or relaxation to airlines in implementation of CAR 2024 on FDTL limitations.
The FIP also asked the regulator to reaffirm in writing, within 48 hours, that CAR 2024 shall be implemented in accordance with the timelines affirmed in the affidavit dated February 19 and the orders of February 24 and April 7 of the Delhi High Court.
