Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Thursday dismissed a petition filed by pilot associations seeking implementation of new rules that propose less work and shorter duty hours for them.
The pilots had challenged the Director General of Civil Aviation’s (DGCA) decision to put on hold the newly framed Civil Aviation Rules (CAR) of 2007 and, instead, continue following the 1992 rules on issues related to their duty hours.
A Division bench of Justices R M S Khandeparkar and Amjed Sayed held that there was "no substance in the grievance about undue strain" that pilots said 1992 rules caused nor was there any merit in the allegation that these rules led to exploitation of pilots.
The judges observed that for last 15 years there were no complaint regarding the 1992 rules, in fact, Indian Pilots Guild, one of the petitioners, had filed petition against the 2007 rules.
As a result of the High Court decision, the Aeronautical Information Circular (AIC) 28 of 1992 will be in operation till a DGCA-appointed committee comes up with amended CAR.
The Joint Action Committee of Airline Pilots Associations of India alongwith others had challenged DGCA's decision of May 29, 2008 to put the 2007 rules in abeyance.
The pilots had alleged that the 1992 rules–which remained in force even after the new rules were framed in 2007 and, subsequently, put on hold–led to more strain and fatigue.
On the other hand, few airlines and DGCA contended that the 2007 rules lowered the limit on pilots' duty hours so much that airlines could not use pilots throughout the year, and there were operational difficulties.
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