Pilot Fatigue in India: A Dilemma Between Flight Safety and Economic Growth

Pilot Fatigue in India: A Dilemma Between Flight Safety and Economic GrowthIndia's aviation industry, valued at $13.9 billion, is projected to cater to over 300 million domestic travellers by 2030

Pilot Fatigue in India: A Dilemma Between Flight Safety and Economic Growth

India's aviation industry, valued at $13.9 billion, is projected to cater to over 300 million domestic travellers by 2030. However, this burgeoning sector faces a critical threat: pilot fatigue. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Indian pilots have been under unprecedented work pressure, with significantly extended work hours, frequent consecutive duty cycles, and limited rest opportunities. To add fuel to the fire, monitoring technologies designed to curb overwork are frequently malfunctioning and remain scarce in the market, further adding to the burden on pilots.

Pilot fatigue has long been a concern in India. In November of last year, 37-year-old Captain Himanil Kumar, a pilot for an Indian airline, tragically collapsed while undergoing training for the Boeing 777 fleet at Delhi Airport. He was pronounced dead despite resuscitation efforts. This incident brought the problem into sharp focus. Kumar was the second Indian pilot to die on duty in just three months. In August, 40-year-old Captain Manoj Subramaniam suffered a fatal cardiac arrest while on the tarmac before a flight in Nagpur.

These tragedies have served as a stark warning for the Indian aviation industry. Shakti Lumba, President of the Professional Pilots' Association of India (PPSI) and former Vice President of IndiGo Airlines, stated, We have yet another young pilot who has possibly died from a heart condition. If this is still not enough to prompt the DGCA, the Ministry of Civil Aviation, and the airlines to take immediate action to alleviate the pressure, fatigue and anxiety of pilots, then we will have more casualties."

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), India's aviation regulator, is responsible for monitoring flight duty time limitations (FDTL) in the country. However, even the already strict 13-hour FDTL has been stretched thin under the double pressure of rapid route expansion and pilot shortages following the easing of the pandemic. Many pilots have been forced to exceed the recommended 60-hour weekly flight time limit, leading to exhaustion among crew members.

In January 2024, the DGCA attempted to address the situation by introducing revised FDTL regulations. The new regulations extended the weekly rest period for pilots from 36 to 48 hours and introduced a quarterly fatigue reporting system to scientifically monitor and manage pilot fatigue.

However, the planned implementation date of June 1, 2024, was postponed due to strong opposition from airline operators, who feared a 20% surge in pilot demand, leading to cost increases and widespread flight cancellations. Despite the DGCA initially insisting on a final implementation deadline of early March, the regulator appeared to have succumbed to lobbying from airline groups by the end of the month, issuing a notice postponing the implementation without providing an explanation or a new timeline.

The issue of pilot fatigue is not unique to India. In January, two pilots from Indonesia's Lion Air fell asleep for 28 minutes during a flight, causing the plane to deviate from its route between Sulawesi and Jakarta. In April, the British Virgin Atlantic Airways pilot union voted 96% in favor of industrial action over growing fatigue concerns. Earlier, the CEO of Wizz Air, a British airline, faced backlash for urging crew members to overcome fatigue to avoid flight cancellations. In May, pilots for Virgin Australia Airways raised safety concerns, claiming that scheduling systems were pushing them "to the limit."

However, in India, the culture of overwork and fatigue is not only tolerated but often seen as a necessary cost for national progress. This mindset is deeply ingrained in multiple industries, particularly in aviation and technology.

Last year, Narayana Murthy, co-founder of software giant Infosys, suggested young Indians should work 70 hours per week. This view was met with widespread support in Parliament and the tech sector, including from individuals like Bhavish Aggarwal, founder of OlaKrutrim; Ayushmaan Kapoor, co-founder of Xeno; and even seasoned veterans like Sajjan Jindal, CEO and Managing Director of JSW Group, and Vinod Khosla, founder of Sun Microsystems. In India, there is a prevailing sentiment that working longer hours is the path to economic growth, far surpassing the daily eight-to-nine-hour work limits prescribed by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and national labor laws. "We have got to make India an economic superpower that everybody will be proud of," proclaimed Jindal. He also cited Prime Minister Narendra Modi as an example, advocating for working "14 to 16 hours a day."

However, plans by the Karnataka government to extend working hours in the IT/ITeS sector from the current maximum of 10 hours (including overtime) to 14 hours faced strong opposition from unions. Faced with the pressing issue of pilot fatigue, airlines are looking towards technological solutions.

IndiGo Airlines announced its intention to become an "early adopter" of wrist fatigue monitoring devices, developed jointly with Thales Group, a French defense and aerospace company. The devices promise to provide detailed statistics beyond traditional biomathematical models, offering airlines a new perspective on managing pilot fatigue. IndiGo operates 2,000 flights daily and has a workforce of over 5,000 pilots. The company stated that the devices will be rolled out after a proof-of-concept trial, but a specific date has not been announced.

Wearable activity trackers have precedent in the aviation industry. IndiGo's devices sound similar to Actiwatch, a now-discontinued research-grade activity watch from Philips used to monitor sleep patterns, study circadian rhythms, and track physical activity as part of airline fatigue risk management systems.

However, Randhawa, the PPSI president, expressed concern that the devices rely heavily on performance tests and subjective assessments like self-reporting, which can be influenced by various factors. Amit Singh, from the non-governmental organization Safety Affairs Foundation, pointed out that overall, safety management systems are often neglected by operators as an added expense.

Indian airlines have taken a proactive approach to addressing pilot fatigue through the introduction of new technology. In May 2023, Air India rolled out safety management software called Coruson and BAM (Boeing Alertness Model), a fatigue mitigation tool integrated into its roster system, which airlines use to create and manage pilot schedules.

Coruson, developed by cloud software company Ideagen, allows for centralized analysis and reporting of safety-related data, such as incidents, hazards, and risk assessments. BAM, jointly developed by Boeing and software company Jeppesen, predicts and manages pilot fatigue by analyzing flight schedules and performance data.

Despite these initiatives, Air India was fined by the DGCA in March for violating FDTL limits and fatigue management regulations.

In May, cabin crew members from low-cost carrier IndiGo Airlines went on mass sick leave, protesting "mismanagement." Earlier, a similar protest was staged by Vistara Airlines crew members, primarily pilots. Air India and Vistara are now both owned by the Indian conglomerate Tata Group, which acquired Air India from the Indian government in January 2022.

Twenty-five IndiGo employees who went on sick leave were dismissed, while others received ultimatums. However, following intervention from the Chief Labour Commissioner, those who were fired were subsequently reinstated by the airline. Just over a week ago, the Delhi Regional Labour Commissioner reportedly wrote to the Tata Group chairman, highlighting the company's "blatant violation of labor laws" and pressing for an investigation into the crew members' legitimate grievances.

Vistara employees reportedly stated that their recent protests were related to salary revisions, with new rules changing the compensation structure for pilots from 70 flying hours to 40 flying hours. Protesters alleged that the new pay structure would lead to a nearly 57% pay cut. They would also have to fly 76 hours to earn the same amount previously earned for 70 hours. To appease pilots and entice them to return to work, management assured them that "overtime" pay would be factored in once Vistara merged with Air India.

At the time, two pilot unions at Air India had already written to the company chairman, stating that such issues were not isolated incidents but rather a systemic problem. Fatigue was another associated concern, with many pilots complaining of insufficient rest and being pushed to their limits. Singh from the Safety Affairs Foundation stated that this impact significantly raises the risk of accidents and has detrimental long-term effects on pilot health.

The phenomenon of "turnaround" (boarding a different type of aircraft immediately after disembarking from one and taking off quickly) has become more prevalent under the 13-hour rule, exacerbating pilot fatigue. Furthermore, consistently landing and taking off three, four, or even more aircraft in succession described by Randhawa, the PPSI president, as a "serious energy drain" is a common practice that has been linked to increased risk of accidents and pilot burnout.