Pilots are dying of fatigue. Technology can’t save them.
In May 2023, Air India launched safety management software called Coruson, as well as BAM (Boeing Alertness Model), a fatigue mitigation tool integrated into its rostering system that airlines use to create and manage pilot schedules. Coruson, developed by cloud software company Ideagen, centralizes, analyzes, and reports safety-related data—such as incidents, hazards, and risk assessments. BAM, developed jointly by Boeing and software company Jeppesen, predicts and manages pilot fatigue by analyzing flight schedules and performance data. These tools are designed to prevent the creation of fatigue rosters and pairings, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson noted in a internal messages to employees. The airline also introduced two new digital tools for its crew—the Pilot Sector Report app, which makes it easy for pilots to submit information about flight performance, incidents, and observations after a flight; and DocuNet, a digital management system that facilitates the storage, retrieval, and sharing of documents (such as flight manuals, training records, and compliance documents).
Despite these measures, the airline has be fined by the DGCA in March this year for violating FDTL limits and fatigue management rules. This May, Air India Express cabin crew called sick en masse to protest against “poor management”. This follows a similar protest by cabin crew, mainly pilots, at Vision airlines. Both Air India and Vistara are now owned by one of India’s largest conglomerates, the Tata Group, which took over the former from the Indian government in 2008. January 2022.
Twenty-five of those who called in sick at Air India Express have been fired. Others are believed to have been served. ultimatum. Those who were fired were later reinstated by the airline after a interference by the chief labour commissioner. Nearly a week ago, the Delhi regional labour commissioner was accused written to the Tata group chairman, pointing out “blatant violations of labor laws” and insisting that the crew’s legitimate concerns be taken into account. According to CNBC, Vistara employees said their agitation was related to recent pay updates, which pegged pilots’ pay at 40 flying hours—down from 70 hours. The protesting first officers claimed that the new pay structure would result in a nearly 57 percent pay cut. Under the new terms, they would also have to fly up to 76 hours to earn what they previously earned for 70 hours.
To appease the pilots and get them back to work, management assured them that the pay for “overtime” would be noted when Vistara was integrated with Air India. At that time, two Air India pilot unions wrote to the company chairman, saying that such issues were not isolated but system. Exhaustion has set in. Another related issue is that many pilots complain of inadequate rest and being pushed to the limit.
Captain SinghSuch actions significantly increase the risk of accidents, but also have long-term health implications for pilots, a former senior manager at AirAsia told WIRED. Tail-switching—rushing between different aircraft types to take off immediately after landing from another—has become more common under the 13-hour rules and can contribute to fatigue, as can hasty acclimation and, most importantly, landing three, four, or more flights in a row, which Captain Randhawa described as a “serious energy management challenge.”
In 2024 “Safety Culture Survey” conducted by Singh’s Safety Matters Foundation in July, 81 percent of 530 respondents, mostly medium- to short-haul pilots, said that unbuffered schedules contributed to their fatigue. As many as 84 percent cited concerns about the pace and direction of shift rotations. “That’s the problem with the new scheduling software that operators are introducing,” said a pilot from a private airline who asked to remain anonymous. “They’re optimization tools designed to make pilots work every second of their 13-hour schedules, with no breaks.” Unbuffered schedules push pilots to their limits, so any additional stress—like unpredictable weather—can easily overwhelm them.
Solving this problem with wrist-worn fatigue devices is a controversial issue. But it’s not the only one. A year after they were first hyped, the buzz around fatigue management technology has largely died down. There has been no update from IndiGo on the wrist-worn devices. Neither IndiGo nor Thales Group responded to requests for comment.
