Air fares set to go up? India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is set to implement new rules regarding pilot rest and duty period, which have raised concerns among airline executives. Effective from June 1, executives are of the view that these new regulations will require airlines to either increase their pilot strength by 20% within three months or reduce flight operations to comply with the new rules.
While stating that the objective of ensuring safe flying is important, airline executives argue that the new rules are overly restrictive and impractical. According to an ET report, an airline CEO expressed concerns about the feasibility of hiring and training a significant number of pilots within such a short timeframe.
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The revised rules redefine the night period, extending it by an hour from 12 am to 5 am to 12 am to 6 am. The rules also impose a cap of two landings for the pilot, whereas there was no previous limit. Additionally, the duty period has been limited to 10 hours if the pilot’s reporting time falls within the night period, compared to the previous 13-hour limit.
Furthermore, the time allowance for exceeding the limit during unforeseen circumstances, such as bad weather or air-traffic delays, has been reduced from three hours to two hours.
While pilots have embraced these new rules, arguing that previous regulations on flight times were too lenient, airlines anticipate difficulties in adapting to the changes. Hiring and training pilots, as well as implementing the new duty schedule and publishing the roster, requires a significant amount of time and coordination. Meeting these requirements by the June 1 deadline seems impossible for airlines.
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Officials responsible for crew scheduling pointed out that a considerable number of flights operated by IndiGo, Air India Express, and Vistara to the Middle East occur during the night period. Similarly, slot-constrained airports in metro cities often have red-eye flights that depart late at night and arrive in the morning.
A crew scheduling official highlighted the challenges posed by the new rules, explaining that for morning flights departing at 7 am, pilots must sign in at 6 am. Similarly, for flights ending at 11:30 pm, pilots must sign off at midnight. Consequently, the majority of duty periods fall within this time window, limiting workdays to two sectors.
To accommodate these flights, airlines will need additional pilots or arrange overnight stay accommodations for the crew, which will increase operational costs and potentially lead to higher ticket prices, the official said.
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Aviation consultancy firm CAPA’s CEO for South Asia, Kapil Kaul, warned of the severe impact of these new rules, estimating that airlines will require 20% more pilots to maintain their current operations.
Senior DGCA officials assured that the new rules were developed after extensive consultation and feedback from the industry. Pilots have long argued that airlines exploit the regulator’s lenient rules, resulting in excessive workload and fatigue.
