DGCA is making significant changes to the flight crew fatigue risk management system

The revised FDTL regulations are effective immediately and airlines are required to comply with the revised regulations by June 1, 2024.

DGCA assistance for flight crew: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has made significant changes to the regulations regarding Flight Duty Time Limits (FDTL) for flight crew, in line with international best practices. These regulations have played an important role in managing fatigue-related safety risks in aviation for more than a decade.

Introducing these reforms in the civil aviation sector would be a substantial step forward in addressing pilot fatigue, improving overall flight safety and balancing this with the expected growth of India’s aviation sector. The revised FDTL regulations are effective immediately and airlines must comply with the revised regulations by June 1, 2024. This will give airlines sufficient time to adapt to the changes, taking into account logistics, system changes and resulting arrangements. resulting from the changes in the revised FDTL regulations.

To address and reduce pilot fatigue concerns through a data-driven approach, DGCA has collected and analyzed a large number of pilot rosters along with pilot fatigue reports submitted by airlines. Based on the study and analysis, some of the key areas that cause fatigue were identified such as maximum flight duty period, night duty, weekly rest period, extension of flight duty period, etc. The revised FDTL regulations have been formulated after extensive data analysis and feedback from various stakeholders, including airlines, pilot associations and individuals. The regulatory changes have also taken into account global best practices (FAA – US and EASA – EU), taking into account the specific operating environment in India.

Key highlights of the revised FDTL regulations:

Extended weekly rest periods for flight crew: The revised regulations mandated weekly rest periods for flight crew from 36 hours to 48 hours, allowing sufficient time to recover from cumulative fatigue.

Night shift: The definition of night has been changed to include the period from 0000-06:00 in the revised regulations compared to the period from 0000-0500 under the previous regulations. This one-hour extension in the early morning ensures sufficient rest and also ensures that the night shift period, which includes the Window of Circadian Low (WOCL), is aligned with 02:00 to 06:00, i.e. the time when the circadian body clock cycle is lowest in terms of alertness.

Maximum flight time, maximum flight duty periods and number of landings during the night: The revised regulations take into account different types of activities in different time zones. The maximum flight time and maximum flight duty period for flight operations approaching nighttime are limited to 8 hours of flight time and 10 hours of flight duty period respectively and the number of landings is limited to only two landings compared to the maximum six landings allowed under previous regulations during night operations, reducing the flight safety is increased.

In addition, DGCA has directed all airlines to submit quarterly fatigue reports after analysis, including action taken on the basis of such reports. It is further stipulated that the fatigue reports will follow a non-punitive and confidentiality policy.

DGCA is further considering the introduction of a new fatigue management regime, namely the Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS). The revised FDTL regulations are a stepping stone towards FRMS implementation in India. FRMS is a data-driven approach to improving flight crew fatigue monitoring and reporting. The collaboration of various aviation stakeholders such as regulators, airlines, flight crew, etc. will be required to implement stringent monitoring, recording and reporting to ensure compliance with an FRMS regime in the future once the willingness to switch to the FRMS framework has been diligently demonstrated by all stakeholders.

With the implementation of the revised FDTL regulations, the aviation sector strives for safer airspace.