Airlines get 6 months to hire more pilots, Directorate General of Civil Aviation

Posted: Wed, Sep 7 2011. 1:00 AM IST

New Delhi -   Airlines have been granted six months to implement new rules framed by the aviation regulator, which will require them to hire more pilots to maintain current levels of operation.

The rules, which restrict the duty timings of pilots and cabin crew members, were initially expected to come into force by June, but will now become mandatory from February.

Pilots’ working hours came under the scanner after last year’s crash of an Air India Express plane, which overshot the runway while landing in Mangalore and killed 158 people. Investigations showed the commander had been sleeping for much of the flight. India’s domestic airline passenger market grew 18% last year, crossing the 52 million mark, and is expected to continue growing in double digits over the next five years, according to the civil aviation ministry.

Airlines have been increasing flights as a result. But they have been blamed for not hiring pilots and cabin crew proportionately, forcing their staff to overwork and compromising safety.

The new rules framed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) take into account a pilot’s “duty time” rather than just their “flight time”. For instance, a pilot who flies as a passenger to reach the city from where he will operate his flight was, until now, not considered to be working during the first flight. Under the new rules, this will also be included in their “duty time”, according to DGCA. Unveiled last month, the new rules have failed to meet the expectations of pilots and experts.

“This FDTL (flight duty time limitation) is not scientifically or medically evaluated, and the people on the panel have no credentials for this,” said a spokesperson for the Society for Welfare of Indian Pilots, which represents the pilots of the country’s largest airline by passengers carried, Jet Airways​ (India) Ltd. “We are writing to the DGCA for a review of this and asking them to look into internationally acceptable norms.”

The aviation ministry has said the rules are based on a scientific study and on International Civil Aviation Organization and US National Aeronautics and Space Administration studies, comparing norms in many nations.

Mohan Ranganathan, member of the government-appointed civil aviation safety advisory council, said some of the rules are loaded in favour of airline owners and do not take the rest periods based on pilot fatigue.

“The one issued in 2007 was better,” he said. The 2007 guidelines were scrapped after airlines protested.

A flight commander said airlines are expanding their fleet at the cost of safety. “The pilot, in the bargain, is sleeping less, his reflexes have slowed down.” The commander, who asked not to be identified, said many other safety-related concessions are being made. For instance, 3,000 hours of flying is now enough for a pilot to become an airline captain, compared with 6,000 hours when Air India Ltd and Jet Airways were the only carriers.

“Today, 80% of the pilots cannot fly without auto thrust, without the automation, autopilot and a flight director. And if you make a mistake and the flight returns to a manual level to correct that mistake, the experience at that age is not there,” he said. “You have low-qualified captains, high-altitude flying and rapid expansion. That’s a dangerous cocktail.”

Ranganathan agreed with the increasing level of immaturity and inexperience among the new captains.

Domestic airlines are also not happy with the new norms. The rules may restrict growth and increase the requirement of pilots by 15-20%, according to a private airline official who declined to be named.

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