India’s new flight duty norms appear more restrictive compared to other jurisdictions: IATA DG

IATA chief Willie Walsh says India’s new pilot duty rules are far more restrictive than global norms but should stabilise soon. IndiGo’s recent mass disruptions stemmed from poor planning during the FDTL phase-two rollout, prompting a 10% winter schedule cut

Geneva: The new flight duty regulations for pilots appear to be much more restrictive compared to other jurisdictions and it is a matter of time before things settle down, global airlines’ grouping IATA’s Chief Willie Walsh has said.

The comments also come against the backdrop of significant operational disruptions faced by India’s largest airline IndiGo in the past one week that had resulted in hundreds of flight cancellations and impacted thousands of passengers.

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Lack of proper planning in implementing the second phase of the Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms that came into force from November 1 is one of the key reasons for the IndiGo flight disruptions which have almost stabilised now.

“The new Indian regulations appear to be much more restrictive than those in other jurisdictions but I think you have got to always recognise that regulators have a responsibility to ensure that the industry is safe and secure.

“The changes have been implemented, I think for the right reasons. It is just a matter of time now before it settles down,” he said.

At a media roundtable in Geneva, Walsh also said the pilot fatigue norms is something that gets debated all the time in Europe and the US.

“India has decided that they want to take measures, particularly around potential fatigue around night time operations, which instinctively would have a greater impact on low-cost carriers, given their business model… it is disappointing that so many consumers have been impacted as a result of this change,” Walsh said.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is a grouping of nearly 360 airlines that account for over 80 per cent of the global air traffic and its members include IndiGo, Air India, Air India Express and SpiceJet.

Among other aspects, the second phase of the FDTL norms has restricted the number of night landings a pilot can make.

India’s civil aviation ministry on Tuesday announced curtailing IndiGo’s winter schedule flights by 10 per cent in order to stabilise the operations.

“During the last week, many passengers faced severe inconvenience due to IndiGo’s internal mismanagement of crew rosters, flight schedules and inadequate communication,” Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said on Tuesday.