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After the recent aviation crisis in the country, pilots organization FIP has warned the government regarding flight duty time limitation rules. The organization says that any relaxation in these safety related rules can become a danger to both passengers and crew. FIP has accused DGCA and airlines of relaxing the rules despite the court order. The pilot organization has clearly stated that FDTL is not an operational burden but the foundation of safe flights.
New Delhi. Amidst the recent major aviation crisis in the country, the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) has written a strong letter to the Civil Aviation Minister, expressing serious concern about flight safety. The pilot organization has demanded that the Flight Duty Time Limitation i.e. FDTL rules should be fully implemented without any relaxation and all temporary and permanent relaxations given to Indigo Airlines should be immediately withdrawn.
FIP says that DGCA’s CAR Section 7 Series J Part III Revision 2 rules are directly related to flight safety and have been prepared on the basis of the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The organization wrote that the old FDTL rules were not scientific and did not properly consider pilot fatigue. For this reason, a petition was filed in the Delhi High Court in 2019.
High Court order and role of DGCA
According to FIP, new FDTL rules were made based on the recommendations of Dr. Naseem Zaidi Committee, which were ordered to be implemented by the Delhi High Court on March 26, 2024. However, due to pressure from airlines, DGCA implemented them in a phased manner. The organization alleges that from October 2025, airlines started being given relaxation in these rules without any emergency, whereas the permission of the court was necessary for this.
Question on discount given to Indigo and Air India
It has been said in the letter that the relaxations given to IndiGo and Air India include important changes like changing the definition of night duty, increasing the number of landings, relaxing the flight duty period and rest period. FIP says that such decisions directly increase the fatigue of pilots and weaken flight safety.
6000 flights cancelled, what is the real reason?
FIP has also refused to link IndiGo’s cancellation of around 6000 flights in the first two weeks of December 2025 with FDTL rules. The organization says that this crisis was not due to rules but was the result of operational and management failure. The letter claims that despite the aircraft and crew being available, permission was not given to flight dispatch.
FIP says that the shortage of only 65 to 70 captains cannot be the reason for cancellation of such a large number of flights. The organization suspects that all this pressure may be part of a strategy to weaken or withdraw the new FDTL rules.
Security vs Business Model
The pilot organization has also raised questions as to how the DGCA approved the winter schedule of airlines and increase in flights without properly checking the availability of pilots and resources. According to FIP, both IndiGo and Air India have enough pilots and in such a situation, relaxing the safety rules is not right in any way.
At the end of the letter, FIP has demanded from the government that no airline should be allowed to fall into a monopoly or duopoly situation. All safety rules should be implemented without any relaxation and pilot organizations should also be included in the rule making process. Also, emphasis has been laid on strengthening the monitoring capacity and human resources of DGCA.
