Public-safety concerns on non-implementation of pilot fatigue norms can’t be brushed aside: Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday said concerns on public safety due to the non-implementation of DGCA regulations to prevent pilot fatigue cannot be “brushed aside”.

A bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia made the oral observation while dealing with a public interest litigation (PIL) matter against the DGCA’s decision to relax the mandatory fatigue-management regulations for pilots on December 5, 2025, considering a recent massive disruption in the operations of IndiGo.

The bench listed the matter for hearing on Thursday and asked the Directorate General of Civil Association’s (DGCA) counsel to seek instructions.

IndiGo cancelled hundreds of flights across the country in the first week of December as the airline was not adequately prepared to implement the new flight-duty norms for pilots.

The DGCA, on December 5, 2025, rolled out Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) exemptions to enable IndiGo to have more pilots on duty to reduce the disruptions and normalise operations.

The aviation regulator eased the flight-duty norms by allowing the substitution of leave with a weekly rest period.

The counsel for the low-cost airline said on Wednesday that a petition filed by the pilots is already pending before a single-judge bench of the high court and that the PIL petitioner has no locus.

The court, however, said the petitioner is a former aircraft engineer and the issue has a bearing on public safety in general.

“The concern cannot be brushed aside,” the bench said.

It further said that once in force, the regulations must be implemented, unless decided otherwise by authorities.

“It has a direct link with the safety of passengers. Unless the regulations are challenged or there is some flaw, they need to enforce it. The regulations were in force since when but they were not being followed. We are not considering the rationale of the regulations. When regulations are in force, they are to be implemented until revised,” the bench observed.

The court nonetheless acknowledged that petitions create a pressure on regulators and they sometimes succumb to it.

“We will have it tomorrow. Please seek your instructions,” the court told the DGCA’s counsel.

The petitioner has alleged that the relaxation from the fatigue regulations was illegally given by the DGCA only to IndiGo and was prima facie mala-fide.

The court, however, said the notification on the relaxation was applicable to all airlines.

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.