Canada is considering relaxing duty hour rules for commercial pilots after complaints from the industry that the current regime is overly complex. Canada tightened duty time regs in 2018, but Transport Canada told Reuters it is “diligently reviewing” those limits with both operators and pilots. The regulator told Reuters it had heard from the industry about the “complexity and inoperability” of the current framework.
The main sticking point seems to be a restriction that says pilots are not allowed to work more than six days in a row. The Air Line Pilots Association said Transport Canada has proposed that pilots be allowed to work up to 23 days in a row, but the regulator declined to comment on that to the news agency. The other main focus of the current duty rules is matching maximum hours flown in a day to normal circadian rhythms. Flight time in the dead of night is capped at nine hours while a pilot who starts first thing in the morning can keep flying for 13 hours. The maximum yearly flight time for a pilot is capped at 1,000 hours.
India is also reviewing its duty hour rules after one of the country’s major carriers, Indigo, canceled about 2,000 flights because of scheduling issues. Critics of that move argued it was mismanagement on Indigo’s part, but India’s regulator gave the airline an exemption so it could get its schedule back on track. India’s new rules capped overnight flight time at 10 hours.
Quality of Life, style and health are a balance of time off and income.
24 hours off every seven days has been industry standard law in the FAA/ US forever. Lower night limits are a great step forward. The Air Canada jet at SFO, in circadian low, would have hit two planes had it not been warded off.
Large countries, especially without high speed rail need lots of pilots. Pay up with good rules or to quote Tom Wolfe’s, “The Right Stuff”- “no bucks… no Buck Rogers”.