The right flight path

DGCA aligns Indian rules with global norms

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has belatedly made a crucial course correction by mandating new regulations on flight duty time limitations (FDTL) for all airlines with effect from June 1. The new norms, involving longer rest periods, shorter night duty hours and landings, and mandated quarterly “fatigue reports” by airlines, are now more closely aligned with global standards and were overdue, given that India is one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets and the country’s major airports are becoming dangerously congested. Pilot fatigue has been one casualty of this frenetic growth in an ultra-competitive capital-intensive and low-margin business.