More Stories

Informist, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025

 

NEW DELHI – The Delhi High Court Tuesday sought the Directorate General of Civil Aviation's response on contempt pleas filed by Federation of Indian Pilots and Indian Pilots Guild against exemptions given to airline operators from implementing the new Flight Duty Time Limitation norms. The high court will hear the contempt petitions by the pilot bodies in April, 2026.

 

The petitioners have said that the civil aviation regulator failed to comply with the undertakings given to the court in February and April this year for a time bound schedule for implementing the Flight Duty Time Limitation norms. The aviation regulator had in its undertaking said that 15 clauses of the Flight Duty Time Limitation norms were to be implemented by Jul. 1 and the remaining seven clauses by Nov. 1. The high court had then closed the case on petitions by Federation of Indian Pilots and other pilot unions challenging the aviation regulator's 2019 rest-period norms after the regulator undertook to implement the new rules in phases.

 

The aviation regulator, despite its undertaking, without obtaining the court's permission or re-engaging with the pilots' bodies, was granting exemptions, relaxations to airline operators from implementing the norms that were to take effect on Nov. 1 and approving airline-specific Flight Duty Time Limitation schemes, said the petitioners. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation had knowingly approved airline Flight Duty Time Limitation schemes that were inconsistent with the framework of what the aviation regulator had itself had stated in the court, they added. 

 

"The FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitation) CAR (Civil Aviation Requirement) was meant to address fatigue management of the flying crew; however, the DGCA, by granting variations, exemptions and relaxations to the airlines, have defied the undertaking and directions of this Hon'ble court and also jeopardises the flight and passenger safety," said the petitioners. The parties referred to relaxations allegedly granted in October 2025 to multiple carriers, including Air India Ltd., InterGlobe Aviation Ltd., SpiceJet Ltd. and others. Earlier this month, the aviation regulator had also granted IndiGo a temporary one-time exemption from some night operations-related changes in the new Flight Duty Time Limitation norms for its Airbus A320 pilots, amid flight cancellations. 

 

The case has its genesis from a 2012 plea that sought alignment of India's fatigue-management framework with global safety standards. While closing the case in April this year after taking note of DGCA's undertaking, the high court had asked the airline operators to submit their fatigue management schemes to the aviation regulator within three weeks, with liberty reserved to the petitioners to approach the appropriate forum in case of non-compliance.

 

IndiGo saw an unprecedented level of flight cancellations earlier this month due to crew shortage, following enforcement of the new flight duty time limitation rules. These flight cancellations led to several passengers being stranded at airports across the country.  End

  

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Deepshikha Bhardwaj

 

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

 

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd. by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd., a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt. Ltd.

 

Informist Media Tel +91 (22) 6985-4000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

 

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2025. All rights reserved.