Airline Pilots’ Association of India (ALPA) has demanded a time bound roadmap for full implementation of flight duty time rules.

The association has said extensions to airlines granted by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation pose safety risk and should be withdrawn.

The association made this demand following untimely deaths of two Air India and Akasa Air pilots this week. 

“The continued grant of variations to operators has materially diluted the intent of the flight duty time limitation regulations (FDTL). These variations, originally conceived as transitional measures, have effectively become the norm. This defeats the purpose of the fatigue management framework and perpetuates scheduling practices that operate at or near regulatory limits without adequate safety buffers, “ ALPA India president Captain Sam Thomas said in a letter to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Thursday.

The revised FDTL rules came into effect last November. IndiGo was granted certain exemptions until February 10 following flight disruptions last November. In March, Air India was allowed relaxation in duty time for long-haul flights. The move was necessitated due to airspace closures following the Iran-US conflict.

The association has now asked DGCA to initiate a structured and time-bound programme for the gradual withdrawal of all such variations, culminating in the full and uniform implementation of FDTL provisions across operators.

“The continued occurrence of untimely pilot fatalities and adverse health outcomes, particularly following the introduction and operational misuse of consecutive night duties, warrants urgent attention. Recent aviation incidents further reinforce the need to ensure that flight crew are not merely compliant with limits but are genuinely well-rested and operationally fit,” the association has said.

Airlines should be mandated to submit quarterly fatigue report data in a standardised format, it said. Such data should be placed in the public domain, it added.

Published on May 1, 2026