Safer skies: DGCA cracks the whip for fatigue management on airlines

NEW DELHI: The serious issue of pilot fatigue is finally being addressed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Airline schedulers and dispatch staff — responsible for drawing up pilot rosters — will now have to be trained in fatigue management to ensure schedules that do allow only well rested pilots to operate flights. Pilots of big Indian carriers have long been complaining about inhumane rosters that has been leading to stress, thereby affecting flight safety.

In a significant move, DGCA chief Faiz Ahmed Kidwai has mandated airlines must have a “fatigue risk management policy; fatigue reporting system and a system for monitoring flight crew fatigue.”