The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) to clearly demonstrate how the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had wilfully disobeyed its directions on implementing the revised flight duty time limitation (FDTL) norms, which were approved earlier this year.
Justice Amit Sharma posed the question after FIP’s counsel argued that despite the DGCA’s April undertaking to roll out the new fatigue-management rules in phases from July 1 to November 1, the regulator was still permitting airlines — including Air India and SpiceJet — to operate in ways that allegedly bypassed the norms.
The judge pushed back, noting that any plea for contempt required clear evidence of deliberate defiance. “I understand if there is an issue of unreasonableness or discrimination, but today you are asking for this court to initiate contempt proceedings. I am again asking, where has there been willful disobedience or non-compliance? There was a direction. The court ultimately says, stick to the timelines,” he remarked.
Representing the aviation regulator, DGCA’s counsel told the court that the regulator has statutory authority to grant exemptions and that the recent dispensations were limited to six months and subject to review.
The FIP contended that the DGCA has already begun granting relaxations to multiple airlines, most notably Air India, including permissions for additional night landings and duty-time extensions for two-pilot Boeing 787 Dreamliner operations. These deviations, the federation argued, placed commercial considerations above pilot safety at a time when fatigue risks are a major concern.
The court granted FIP time to produce previous orders to support its contempt plea. The matter will be heard next on December 15.
Earlier this year, the DGCA told the High Court that the revised FDTL norms — aimed at strengthening fatigue management and increasing mandatory rest periods for pilots — would be rolled out in stages. Of the 22 new clauses in the 2024 Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR), 15 came into effect on July 1, and the remaining were scheduled for November 1.
The new rules were originally intended to take effect on June 1, 2024, but airlines raised operational concerns, prompting the phased approach.
The present dispute arises from petitions filed by the Indian Commercial Pilots Association, Indian Pilots Guild, and the FIP, all urging the court to ensure that safety-focused norms are not diluted through regulatory exemptions.
