Air India formulates new policy on pilot fatigue calls

A new policy of india air where an airline committee will examine pilot fatigue calls and cabin crew has sparked debate about whether this would discourage self-reporting when pilots are tired for fear of retaliation.

However, a senior executive at an airline that manages flight operations said such a system is necessary to prevent abuse of the no-questions-asked response. fatigue policy. It helps differentiate a genuine fatigue problem caused by airline operations versus those due to personal reasons, the executive said.

The Tata-owned airline said in a new policy on Friday that all reports of pilot fatigue will be flagged as fatigue in the system. However, the reports will be further reviewed by a flight operations department, cabin crew data and the airline’s medical department.

“After further review by the department, in case of unsubstantiated reports, fatigue will be replaced as illness in the crew portal,” said the new memo sent to the crew and reviewed by ET.

The policy is similar to that of the market leader. Indigo where all fatigue reports are marked as sick. The reports are then assessed by a flight operations team and, if found to be authentic, sick leave is credited at a later stage.

Sources said there has been a substantial rise in reports of fatigue at Air India in recent months, many of which were caused by personal issues rather than the organisation. “Our new fatigue protocol is a positive step in preventing fatigue. and the world’s leading airlines follow. It complies with the regulations and is not punitive. We will continue to use scientific tools such as Jeppesen and Boeing Alertness Model to protect our crew from potentially fatiguing checklists,” an Air India spokesperson said. “When a no-questions-asked fatigue policy is abused, genuine cases and scope to reverse the system are overlooked. For example, if there are multiple reports on a single flight schedule, the system alerts the airline and that schedule changes,” an airline official said.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a United Nations agency to regulate aviation safety, encourages crew self-reporting of fatigue. “The airline must periodically analyze fatigue reports and provide information, as appropriate, to individuals and groups about the actions taken or why no action was deemed necessary,” an ICAO report says.

Many senior crew members said that if the airline analyzes the data transparently, this can lead to the formation of a fatigue risk management policy where the airline can adopt policies and eliminate flight patterns for crew that cause fatigue.

For example, Air India Express, Air India’s single segment, now offers night rest to pilots on multiple night flights to Gulf against a quick turnaround where the same crew group operated the next flight.

However, Air India pilots have in the past complained to the management that the long waiting period before a flight at airports without proper rest facilities is causing fatigue among pilots.

“Many times, when I arrive at the hotel after completing a flight, my room is not ready and I have to wait in the lobby for an hour. That causes fatigue, but will the committee count it as a problem or mark it as my personal problem?,” said an Air India pilot.

Experts said the success of such policies depends on whether the civil aviation regulator DGAC is closely involved. “Without a pilot representative, whoever substantiates the fatigue report is likely biased. DGCA says they have no data on fatigue,” Amit Singh of Safety Matters Foundation.

The DGCA has not yet set a date to implement the new rest rules for pilots which, among many other changes, require airlines to submit fatigue reports to the regulator every quarter.

The DGCA had put the new rules on hold indefinitely due to strong resistance from airlines, saying the rules will force them to cancel 20% of flights at the peak of the summer travel season.