Why indefinite relaxation of norm on weekly rest, leaves for pilots: Delhi High Court asks DGCA

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday questioned the DGCA on the "indefinite" relaxation given to airlines with respect to the implementation of new norms on weekly rest and leaves for pilots.

Issuing notice on a public interest litigation (PIL) on the issue, a bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia asked the aviation regulator to explain the "rationale" behind its decision to immediately withdraw the new flight-duty norm which said that "no leave shall be substituted by weekly rest".

The bench asked the Directorate General of Civil Association's (DGCA) as well as IndiGo to file their response to the PIL in two weeks.

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

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

Counsel for DGCA on Friday submitted that the regulator was monitoring the situation after the FDTL came into operation on November 1, 2025, and the decision to withdraw was taken in light of an audit as well as representations from airlines on pilots clubbing the two types of offs.

She clarified that even after the December 5 decision, while weekly rest for pilots continued to be mandatory and governed by the CAR, leaves were a matter of contract between a pilot and airline.

DGCA counsel also said that a specific relaxation from night duty norms, through another letter issued on December 5, was given to IndiGo till February 10.

The court, however, asked that when a temporary relaxation was given for night duty norms to IndiGo, why was the norm on non-substitution of weekly rest and leaves withdrawn without any deadline.

"The grievance seems to be that leave and weekly off can't be mixed up, which you have withdrawn because of disruption in one particular airline. If you are issuing two letters on the same day - one is till February 10 but first one is indefinite. This letter is forever. So if your response on the first letter was with regard to disruption and the second letter also was (due to) disruption but you have limited the time up to February 10 (for night duty). Why not for the other one?," the court said.

"What is the rationale for withdrawal of this? And this applies to all airlines," the court asked the DGCA counsel.

In the last hearing, the court had said concerns on public safety due to the non-implementation of DGCA regulations to prevent pilot fatigue could not be "brushed aside".

The petitioners, Sabari Roy Lenka, Aman Monga and Kiran Singh, have alleged that the relaxation from the fatigue regulations was illegally given by the DGCA only to IndiGo and was prima facie malafide.

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.

The matter would be heard next in April.