Court strikes down law allowing Airlines to change stipulated duty hours for workers
19 April 2018: The Delhi High Court has struck down Flight Duty Time Limitations(FDTL) floated by Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in the year 2011 which allows commercial airline operators to stretch the working hours of pilots.
Lawyer Yeshwant Shnoy had filed a case against the regulation bringing to the notice of the Court that the law compromises on the rest time of the pilots resulting in fatigue which has led to fatal accidents in the past. Taking cognizance of the matter the Court directed the DGCA to float new rules within a year and to ensure that in the meantime recommendations of the committee headed by Naseem Zaidi are strictly followed. The committee had recommended that flight crew should get 36 hours of rest free from all duties, a pilot flying between three to seven time zones during a long haul flight should have minimum 36 hours of rest before next flight and barred consecutive night operations between 12 AM- 5 AM for pilots.