A recent parliamentary standing committee report has highlighted staff shortages and fatigue among air traffic controllers and flight crews as safety concerns, urging authorities to implement a modern fatigue risk management system.
In its 36-page report tabled in Parliament on August 20, the parliamentary standing committee on transport, tourism and culture pointed out how stress and fatigue affect both flight crews and air traffic controllers in the decision-making process and compromise aviation safety. Noting a shortage of air traffic controllers, the panel said they were under immense and sustained pressure and that “overload and fatigue pose a direct risk to airspace safety”.
“The system is knowingly and consistently operating outside its own mandated safety limits (Watch Duty Time Limitations) through the routine use of exemptions. This is a classic organisational failure, where a known and significant risk — controller fatigue — is accepted as a normal part of operations due to persistent operational and resource pressures,” the panel, chaired by JDU Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Kumar Jha, said.
The panel also suggested organising mental health awareness programmes for flight crews.
Stressing that concealment of errors may compromise safety, the report urged the aviation sector to move away from a punitive approach and adopt a “just culture” principle. The committee proposed a “comprehensive, legally-backed whistleblower protection framework” as a counter to a punitive culture that deterred the open reporting
of errors.
The suggestions were based on the feedback from the Air Traffic Controllers’ Guild (India) on the regulatory practice of imposing heavy penalties on officers for decisions made under intense pressure.
The panel also urged the aviation regulator to intervene in cases of excessive or predatory pricing by airlines and strengthen the tariff monitoring unit.
The report noted a “staggering shortfall” of nearly 50 per cent of the required manpower at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, attributing the crisis to a “slow and inflexible” recruitment model.