Indian aviation heavyweights IndiGo and the Air India group want the aviation safety watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to put in place a Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS) framework for them to fully effect contentious changes in the Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) rules for crew, The Indian Express has learnt. Both airlines are understood to have proposed timelines of phased implementation starting June 2025.
In letters to the regulator earlier this month, the carriers informed the DGCA about their proposed timelines for implementing the changes, the most contentious among which include changes in night flying hours and allowed landings, and an enhancement in mandatory weekly rest period for pilots to 48 hours from the current 36 hours.
In March this year, the DGCA deferred its decision to implement the new FDTL rules from June 1 without mentioning a new implementation deadline. Airlines had been voicing concerns that quick implementation of the new rules—aimed at better fatigue management—would result in a requirement of many more pilots, whom they would not be able to hire and train in such a short period. This, the carriers had argued, would have led to capacity constraints and disruption in flight schedules and operations.
Pilot bodies want the new rules to be implemented at the earliest. The matter is also being heard by the Delhi High Court and the DGCA had asked airlines to provide implementation timelines for the new norms.
In their communication to the DGCA earlier this month, IndiGo and Air India called for the FRMS framework to be in place, indicating that their implementation timelines for the new FDTL norms would be linked to the setting up of the framework, it is learnt. An FRMS allows an airline to adapt policies, procedures, and practices to effectively monitor and mitigate crew fatigue-related risks using data-driven scientific methodologies.
According to sources, IndiGo wants to increase the weekly rest period gradually from June 2025 instead of implementing the change in one go. On the issue of tweaks in night flying rules and procedures, IndiGo wants the DGCA to not extend the definition of night for the purpose of the rules by an hour, and stick to the current definition—midnight to 5 AM, it is learnt.
On capping night landings to two for the flight crew, the country’s largest airline is understood to have told the regulator that it can be implemented from October 2026, and wants it to be applicable if the entire five-hour night window of midnight to 5 AM entirely falls under the pilots’ duty hours for the day.
These proposals by IndiGo, however, are based on the premise that the DGCA will incorporate the FRMS framework in future, the airline is learnt to have told the regulator. IndiGo’s arguments for a staggered implementation includes the additional crew that would have to be hired and trained for the new norms to take effect fully, sources said.
According to sources in the know, the Air India group has informed the DGCA that while it can implement the enhancement in the mandatory weekly rest period to 48 hours from June 2025, the changes pertaining to night flying can be implemented only after the regulator implements the FRMS framework. Last month, too, Air India had called for the implementation of the FRMS framework in an FDTL-related meeting with DGCA officials and representatives of pilot associations.
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