Delhi HC questions DGCA over indefinite pilot duty time relaxation
In a PIL on pilot fatigue, the Delhi HC questions DGCA’s indefinite exemption to flight duty time limits and asks for a detailed response
The Delhi High Court on Friday (January 30) asked the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to explain the rationale behind its move to provide "indefinite" relaxation given to airlines with respect to Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL). The DGCA, on December 5, 2025, rolled out the exemption to FDTL to enable IndiGo to have more pilots on duty to reduce the disruptions and normalise operations.
The question was posed by a bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia during the hearing of a public interest litigation (PIL) on the issue. The bench asked the DGCA regulator to explain the "rationale" behind its decision to immediately withdraw the new flight-duty norm, which said that "no leave shall be substituted by weekly rest".
‘File response in two weeks’
Issuing notices with regard to the PIL, the bench asked the DGCA as well as IndiGo to file their response to the PIL in two weeks.
During the hearing, the counsel for DGCA submitted that the regulator was monitoring the situation after the FDTL came into operation on November 1, 2025, and the decision to withdraw was taken in light of an audit as well as representations from airlines on pilots clubbing the two types of offs.
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She clarified that even after the December 5 decision, while weekly rest for pilots continued to be mandatory and governed by the CAR, leaves were a matter of contract between a pilot and an airline.
DGCA counsel also said that a specific relaxation from night duty norms, through another letter issued on December 5, was given to IndiGo till February 10.
Delhi HC’s question to DGCA
The court, however, asked that when a temporary relaxation was given for night duty norms to IndiGo, why was the norm on non-substitution of weekly rest and leaves was withdrawn without any deadline.
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"The grievance seems to be that leave and weekly off can't be mixed up, which you have withdrawn because of disruption in one particular airline. If you are issuing two letters on the same day - one is till February 10, but the first one is indefinite. This letter is forever. So if your response on the first letter was with regard to disruption, and the second letter also was (due to) disruption, but you have limited the time up to February 10 (for night duty). Why not for the other one?" the court said.
"What is the rationale for the withdrawal of this? And this applies to all airlines," the court asked the DGCA counsel. The matter was posted for hearing again in April.
‘Concerns can’t be brushed aside’
The Delhi High Court, during the last hearing, stated that concerns on public safety due to the non-implementation of DGCA regulations to prevent pilot fatigue could not be "brushed aside".
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The petitioners, Sabari Roy Lenka, Aman Monga and Kiran Singh, have alleged that the relaxation from the fatigue regulations was illegally given by the DGCA only to IndiGo and was prima facie mala fide.
The DGCA is required under the International Civil Aviation Organisation to enforce fatigue regulations uniformly, prevent unsafe rostering, ensure staffing adequacy, assess airline preparedness and suspend non-compliant schedules, but has consistently failed to implement such a regime, the plea has alleged.
(With agency inputs)