A pilots’ association has urged the aviation regulator to immediately withdraw relaxations in fatigue management norms for airlines against the backdrop of the death of two pilots due to heart attack in the last two days.
An Air India pilot, who was on scheduled rest, died in Bali on Wednesday. An Akasa Air pilot passed away on Thursday while undergoing training in Bengaluru. Both were off duty at the time of their deaths.
In a letter to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the Airline Pilots’ Association-India (ALPA-India) has flagged serious flight safety concerns and demanded a time-bound road map for the gradual withdrawal of relaxations and full implementation of the flight duty time limitations (FDTL) regulations.
The DGCA had temporarily relaxed the revised FDTL norms that provide for increased rest hours for pilots in December to manage flight disruptions caused by pilot shortages at IndiGo and to enable pilots to operate on longer routes in the wake of airspace restrictions stemming from the West Asia crisis.
“The continued grant of variations to operators has materially diluted the intent of the FDTL regulations. These variations, originally conceived as transitional measures, have effectively become the norm,” ALPA-India said.
“This defeats the purpose of the fatigue management framework and perpetuates scheduling practices that operate at or near regulatory limits without adequate safety buffers,” it added.
02/04/2026 Amiya Kumar Kushwaha/Telegraph
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