By Nethra Sailesh
The DCGA submitted an affidavit to the Delhi High Court about revisions made in the Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) for pilot duty and rest hours which will be enforced within 2 phases this year.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DCGA) is a regulatory body of aviation that focuses on aviation safety problems within the country. They issue Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) for this purpose. In India, CAR not only ranges from addressing issues related to flight crew standards but air space and navigation standards, aircraft conditions, aviation environment protection, and even goods transported via airfare.
Out of the 22 total modifications made, only 15 of them will be enforced by July.
As reported by IndiaToday, the additional solicitor general representing DCGA said that smaller regulations still being considered will be rolled out by November 1.
It was also reported that the court was hearing petitions filed by organizations such as the Indian Commercial Pilots Association, Indian Pilots Guild, and Federation of Indian Pilots. Earlier, the counsel representing the pilot’s associations had agreed to the past regions made in CAR under the pretense of some conditions. They’ve also stated that most of their issues will be solved by enforcing these new regulations.
Out of these changes, the affidavit stated that pilots would get 48 hours of rest period which is an increase from the previous 36 hours. Furthermore, there will be an operator that will ensure that these weekly rest periods will take place in home bases or temporary home bases for the pilots. and that there will not be more than 168 hours between the end of one weekly rest period and the next. The maximum flight duty for operations at night would be limited to 8 to 10 hours. Landings will also be reduced to 2 landings per night.