SpiceJet not to have \'permanent base\' for copilots

SpiceJet not to have 'permanent base' for copilots

Press Trust of India  |  New Delhi 

has decided not to have a "permanent base" for its copilots, the carrier said.

In an email to its copilots on Friday, SpiceJet's Training stated, "Considering the need of the hour and after much internal deliberation, the higher management has come to the decision that effective today there will be no permanent base for the copilots."

He added that the bases may be altered, as per the requirements of day-to-day operations, with prior notification.

Sangwan said the remains "open to any alterations in this policy that may bring about any improvements to our operations and crew utilisation," according to the email seen by

The airline did not respond to PTI's request for any comment.

On November 1 last year, the of Civil (DGCA) put an end to its rule which made it compulsory to have one "home base" or "permanent base" for pilots.

"generally bring back the co-pilot back to the home base after one or two or three days. This had been the norm till date," said an expert on the condition of anonymity.

"At the end of the day, pilots want to get back to their families. It keeps the stress level down among them. This is why this rule of "home base" was there in the DGCA rule book till November last year," he added.

The domestic pilot bodies of and had opposed the DGCA's November 1 norms - which go into detail and set new rules regarding duty and rest hours for the flight crew.

In November itself, the domestic pilot bodies termed the DGCA's new norms "downright dangerous" and "regressive".

"This CAR (Civil Requirement) draft on FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitations), however, reads like a created for to enable them to flog their pilots even more, in order to cut costs and generate profits at the cost of safety," the unions had added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Sat, February 02 2019. 22:00 IST