Peeved by the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s intent to review the existing pilot-friendly flying duty time limitation (FDTL) guidelines, the Indian Commercial Pilots Association (ICPA) is set to move the Bombay High Court, challenging the decision. The pilots’ association will seek to challenge the manner in which the existing norms were put on hold by the ministry and also the basis for the FDTL review.

"Before any change in the Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR), it is customary for the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to take the pilot associations and airlines in confidence and take our suggestions. However, no such practice was followed this time and the rules were put on hold in an ad hoc manner," ICPA general secretary Captain Vikram Yadav told The Indian Express, adding that the petition would be filed on June 10.

With the current FDTL norms in abeyance, there are no rules currently governing pilots’ flight hours, claims ICPA. Instead, public carriers Air India-Indian and others like Jet Airways are following internal FDTL norms decided after consultations with their pilots’ union. However, private carriers that are bound by no such union restrictions are free to make their pilots fly for any number of hours during the day, ICPA says.

When contacted, a senior civil aviation official said that with the existing rules on hold, the old FDTL norms applicable earlier would come into effect. "The existing FDTL norms came into effect in July last year. For the time being, we have reverted back to the old norms that were prevalent before July," the official said. However, ICPA contends that the earlier rules were cancelled through a DGCA notification issued last year. As such there were no rules that could be followed temporarily.

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