Pilots try to map new work rules

Mumbai: Some pilots gulp down mugs of coffee, many resort to forced conversations or take recourse to any remedy that works to keep melatonin, the sleep hormone, from taking over when in the cockpit, especially in the last few hours of an international flight during the circadian low, that is, night time in their native land.
"A number of pilots who have operated flights during the circadian low have reported extreme fatigue during the approach and landing phase and have filed reports via the non-reprisal policy of the airline," says a letter sent by the Society for Welfare of Indian Pilots (SWIP), an association of Jet Airways pilots, to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The letter seeks the withdrawal of two blanket dispensations to pilot rest rules, given by the DGCA to Air India (AI) and Jet Airways, on the grounds that it has increased fatigue to worrisome levels.
Last year, AI and Jet pilots' unions also petitioned the Bombay high court against these dispensations.
So, what are these dispensations? The first dispensation, given about four years ago, pertains to the maximum permissible flight time and flight duty time. While flight duty time starts when the pilot reports to the airport for work, flight time is the actual time spent in the cockpit after the aircraft starts moving and till it comes to a rest. According to pilot rest rules followed in India (formulated in 1992), the maximum flight time for a pilot is nine hours and flight duty time is 12 hours. The DGCA dispensation changed both flight time and flight duty time to 10 hours and 14 hours, respectively, with an additional clause for flight times that extend beyond 10 hours.
So, for a Mumbai-London flight departing at 1.45 am, for instance, the wake-up time for flight crew is 10.45 pm, reporting time is 12.15 am and arrival time is 12 noon (IST). "By the time the flight crew arrives in London, they have been awake for 13 hours, with a major portion of the flight conducted during the circadian low," says a commander. If there is bad weather over London, as was the case last week, the number of duty hours rises.
15/12/10 Manju V/Times of India