Flight cancelled after pilot refuses to take off: Why airlines have to follow norms for duty hours

Instances of pilots refusing to fly due to fatigue or because they had completed regulation duty hours are not unusual. On July 2, an IndiGo pilot refused to operate a Lucknow-Chennai flight citing fatigue. In the last week of June, the pilot of a London-Delhi AI flight that was diverted to Jaipur due to bad weather refused to operate the Jaipur-Delhi leg citing FDTL norms.

The job of the flight crew is safety-critical and passenger safety is the top priority in aircraft operations. Crew fatigue and exhaustion are seen as major factors contributing to human errors that can lead to catastrophic accidents. Therefore, FDTL regulations are considered important globally. In India, FDTL compliance is overseen by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

Airlines have a plan, but it sometimes fails

Unforeseen flight delays — for reasons such as bad weather, technical snags in aircraft, or congestion at airports — are usually the reason why FDTL norms come into the picture. Pilots and crew of an aircraft usually operate multiple flights in a day, and delays can quickly add up to eat into authorised duty hours.

Airlines usually have management and rostering systems that optimise crew efficiency and ensure crew changes at regular intervals to minimise chances of fatigue and violation of FDTL norms. There are provisions for standby crew, and some delays are factored into roster planning. When things do fall through the cracks, it is usually not due to the absence of proper planning.

It’s the smaller airports that present the bigger headaches

Smaller airports are usually more susceptible to FDTL-related disruptions because they are unlikely to have standby crew, and it is difficult to mobilise them at short notice. Airlines base the bulk of operational staff in big cities with busy airports, where it is easier to have standby crews or mobilise them quickly. This is the reason Rajkot, Lucknow, or Jaipur present bigger challenges for airlines than say, Delhi or Mumbai.

As airlines expand their networks, they base pilots and other crew in more cities. But it would still be unviable and inefficient to have sizable crews in all cities of operation just to prevent any possible FDTL-related disruption.

Concern going forward: Looming pilot shortage

Given the volume of traffic, India does not see many FDTL-related disruptions. This could change in the coming years as Indian carriers expand their fleet and networks, and a steady supply of additional pilots is required. There could be pressure on the existing, slowly growing pool of pilots. In the worst case, airlines could face a major impediment to their growth plans even as demand surges.

Indian airlines, mainly IndiGo and the Tata Group carriers led by Air India, have almost 1,500 aircraft on order, which will be delivered over the next 10 years. For an idea of how many new pilots will be needed in this period, consider this: one standard narrow-body jet (of the Airbus A320/ Boeing 737 family) needs at least 12 pilots on average, while a wide-body aircraft needs 20-30 (captains plus first officers), depending on the range.

India is estimated to have around 9,000 pilots for a fleet of some 700 aircraft currently. Almost 2,000 additional pilots may be needed every year over the next few years to keep up with the expected pace of fleet expansion. This is more than double the number of commercial pilot licences that the DGCA currently issues annually.

Also, the most acute shortage is expected to be of the experienced pilots, or captains, who lead the crew and are in charge of the flight. It takes a few years for a pilot to be promoted to captain, and it is estimated that the existing Indian airline ecosystem produces fewer than 200 captains a year.

In March, AI cut the frequency of flights on some long-haul international routes due to the non-availability of the requisite number of pilots for wide-body planes. Over the past few months, the airline has stepped up the hiring of pilots and cabin crew.