Sign In
Learn bits
Economy
Mahesh

24/03/24 12:54 PM IST

DGCA new rules for pilots

In News
  • The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has rejected a request by airlines to postpone new pilot duty norms.
New Rules
  • The new rules provide enhanced weekly rest for pilots which has gone up from 36 hours to 48 hours.
  • The rules have also reduced night-time flying, which is known to contribute to fatigue and impact alertness levels as sleep is displaced from the optimum part of the circadian rhythm.
  • Earlier, a pilot could carry out six landings during night-time flying, which has now been reduced to two.
  • The night-time shift has been extended by an hour to 6 a.m, from the earlier midnight to 5 a.m.
  • The maximum flight duty period for flights encroaching night-time has also been reduced from 10 hours to eight hours.
  • The DGCA also wants airlines to submit an analysis of fatigue reports submitted by pilots on a quarterly basis along with an action taken report.
  • It has also said that it plans to 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 though pilots are apprehensive that this could reduce existing rest periods prescribed in the rules.
Criticism
  • Airlines would be required to hire “15% to 25% more pilots” when it takes approximately 8-10 months to release a newly inducted pilot for flying.
  • The FIA warned that the June 1 deadline could result in the cancellation of 15%-20% of flights by most airlines as well as cancellation of some long-haul international flights.
  • In response, the DGCA reiterated that it will stick to the June 1 deadline.
Pilots registered with DGCA
  • Many airlines like Air India and Vistara are already grappling with pilot shortages compared to aircraft strength.
  • As on December 2023, there were a total of 771 aircraft with various Indian airlines and 9,524 commercial pilots registered with the DGCA.
  • Additionally, there were 67 foreign pilots too due to a shortage of commanders on certain aircraft type such as the Boeing 777.
  • India’s commercial airlines are likely to nearly double fleet size to 1,400 by fiscal year 2029-30, shows CAPA data.
  • This will mean airlines will have to add 10,900 additional pilots by 2030, which is nearly 1,600 new pilots a year. Last year, the regulator issued 1,272 commercial pilot licences.
Source- The Hindu

More Related Current Affairs View All

05 Mar

First-ever comprehensive survey of India’s river dolphins

'Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the results of the first-ever comprehensive population estimation of riverine dolphins – Gangetic and Indus dolphins – done in In

Read More

05 Mar

Arresting women at night

'The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court in Deepa versus S. Vijayalakshmi and Others ruled that the legal provision in the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, which

Read More

05 Mar

Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023

'The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) looking to wrap up public consultations on the draft Rules for the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 by Mar

Read More

India’s First Ai-Driven Magazine Generator

Generate Your Custom Current Affairs Magazine using our AI in just 3 steps