The DGCA has now clarified it has not provided a general, “blanket” FDTL extension, for two-pilot operations on Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. The extension was sought by the airline to increase the flight duty for a two-person crew from 10 to 10.5 hours in certain segments.
Very strongly opposed by the Airlines Pilots’ Association of India (ALPA-India), the extension was also said to compromise flight safety and present a possibility of increased crew fatigue.
The regulator insists that any relaxation is highly conditional and specific to a route, just to help mitigate the disruptions of a handful of flights, mostly between North India and West India. On those routes, flight time may increase by an additional 30 minutes with very strong winter jet streams and a longer route due to closure of airspace over Pakistan.
The DGCA went on record to provide that the dispensation is not for the routine consideration of crew planning and has seemingly directed Air India to speed up the training of pilots and report on rostering on a monthly basis to make sure they will be in compliance.
Safety-First Mandate
The primary issue that the pilots’ union is raising in its appeal is reduced crewing rest quality in the cockpit of the Boeing 787. An FAA order from the United States restricts using recline functions in the captain’s seat during flight for safety reasons in the Dreamliner.
The pilots claim that this restriction significantly undermines the effectiveness of in-flight controlled rest-shifted cross on an extended duty day. Not being able to recline fully in a very long duty day leaves ALPA-India warning that “conditions are ripe for fatigue-induced errors”-a very dangerous operational-safety scenario.
Operational Constraints Vs. Fatigue Risk
With a view to ensuring on-time performance and avoiding disruptions on the routes affected by geopolitical and weather events, these temporary extensions were sought.
However, the pilots’ union has urged the DGCA to immediately recall its extension and rather mandate that any crew augmentation (i.e. three-pilot operation) operate all flights either beyond 8 hours or through the window of circadian low, to wit, 2:00 am to 6:00 am, during which alertness is at its lowest-travel time.
This is seen as an effort to reinstate flight safety over simply operational or commercial expediency until a permanent solution kick in, like a corrective seat modification or a fatigue risk assessment program.
A recent media graduate, Bhumi Vashisht is currently making a significant contribution as a committed content writer. She brings new ideas to the media sector and is an expert at creating strategic content and captivating tales, having working in the field from past four months.
