India airlines group opposes country's bid to tighten cabin crew fatigue rules

By Abhijith Ganapavaram and Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI, Feb 12 (Reuters) - A group representing India's top airlines IndiGo INGL.NS and Air India has asked the government to dilute proposed fatigue management rules for cabin crew, warning they could disrupt flight schedules and limit growth prospects, a letter shows.

The pushback from the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) on a key Indian government proposal comes after IndiGo, the country's largest airline, cancelled about 4,500 flights in December due to poor planning for new fatigue management rules for pilots.

The cabin crew rules proposed in October call for boosting minimum weekly rest to 48 hours from 36 hours presently and expanding work limitations for night operations.

They also call for flight attendants to each get their own hotel room on layovers to improve rest quality. That is not a requirement under international aviation rules, but in practice it is common among airlines outside India despite being more costly.

In its letter, which is not public, FIA argued that mandating single-room occupancy could create constraints at several domestic and international airports due to limited hotel inventory and result in crew being accommodated at distant or sub-optimal locations.

The proposed rules say they aim to "enhance safety of operations". Pilot mental health was in sharp focus after the Air India crash last June that killed 260 people, though the cause has yet to be determined.

But FIA argued the fatigue rules would "severely" limit long-term growth expansion and reduce the competitiveness of Indian airlines in the global market.

The letter was sent to India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation. The regulator and FIA, which also represents India's fourth-largest carrier SpiceJet SPJT.BO, did not respond to Reuters' queries.

There is no fixed timeline for implementation for the rules. IndiGo, Air India and SpiceJet also did not respond.

INDIAN NORMS VS GLOBAL

India's government said this month the aviation minister chaired a meeting with aviation officials where discussions centred around assessing safety at airfields, as well as strengthening regulatory oversight frameworks across the country.

The cumulative effect of the draft provisions on cabin crew fatigue management could complicate crew scheduling and reduce roster predictability, the FIA's letter said.

The rules go beyond global norms for managing cabin crew fatigue, it argued, such as classifying ultra-long-haul flights as those over 14 hours rather than 16 hours.

FIA's lobbying effort comes as Air India, the country's second-largest airline, is facing financial losses from an airspace ban imposed by Pakistan and a deadly crash and IndiGo is dealing with regulatory scrutiny due to the cancellations.

The FIA is lobbying the regulator to relax some of the rules, including reworking stricter night provisions such as landing caps to follow fatigue science and to introduce the new norms in a phased manner.