The Hindu Business Line : Panel set up to review pilot flying time

New Delhi, May 30 The Government has set up a three-member committee to consider how best airlines and helicopter operators can utilise the services of pilots and cabin crew without jeopardising security and safety of commercial flights.

Official sources told Business Line that the Committee will consider a host of issues including whether there was a need to make any changes in the Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) currently governing the work timing of pilots and cabin crew.

“The issue is complicated as there are almost 35 different set of regulations which govern the crew FDTL.

The guidelines are different not only for domestic flights but also for various types of international flights. In some cases the guidelines are more stringent than the rules laid down in the US and Europe,” sources said.

The latest rules set out in July 2007, which have now been put in abeyance, stipulate different rest periods depending on whether a pilot operates a flight early in the morning and the amount of flight time that had been logged by the pilot irrespective of whether the flight has been operated.

While in the US flight time for pilots was generally measured from the moment the aircraft wheels rolled till they stopped and rest period was a certain portion of flight time, in Europe the duty time for the pilots is calculated in such a manner that after about 10-12 hours of flying they get at least 12 hours of rest.

The decision to review the norms has been welcomed by industry. “IndiGo Airlines will feel very comfortable with implementation of international standards for pilots. We certainly would not want pilots to get less rest than what are the international norms but unfortunately the prior Civil Aviation Requirement had some conflicting rules that were bad for both pilots and the airlines,” said the airline’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr Bruce Ashby.

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