New regulations governing duty hours for pilots in India could mean that airlines may need to hire 15-20% more pilots than they currently have on their rolls.
Government officials have stated that the new rules could be implemented from June. India is already facing a pilot shortage and the government in currently investigating a racket where would-be pilots obtained fake commercial pilot licences.
The regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) deal with work and duty timings for airline pilots, which were fast-tracked after an Air India ExpressBoeing 737 crashed in Mangalore on 22 May, killing 158 people.