New DGCA FDTL CAR for pilots and cabin crew: what changed and what it means

Flight duty time limitations decide how long you can be on duty, how many sectors you can fly before the day has to end, and how much rest you are owed before the next report. For Indian crew, that framework changed in two distinct ways between early 2024 and late 2025. Pilots now operate under a fully enforced revision of the flight crew CAR, and cabin crew have, for the first time under a modernised framework, a dedicated draft CAR of their own.

This post sets both out plainly. It covers what CAR Section 7 Series J Part III Rev 2 actually requires of pilots, what the October 2025 cabin crew draft CAR introduces, where the two frameworks line up, and where they differ. The aim is a clear reading of the rules as written, not a forecast and not a complaint. If you already know the broad shape of the pilot rules and want the detail, the DGCA FDTL rules simplified guide for pilots goes deeper on the flight crew side.

The road to 2025: from notification to full enforcement

The current pilot framework did not arrive in one step. The revised CAR was first notified on 8 January 2024 as Revision 1, then updated to Revision 2 on 26 March 2024. Rather than switching everything on at once, DGCA staged the rollout. Phase 1 came into force on 1 July 2025, and Phase 2 on 1 November 2025, at which point the revised provisions applied in full.

The cabin crew side moved on a separate track. On 15 October 2025, DGCA issued a draft CAR covering cabin crew flight duty time limitations: CAR Section 7 (Cabin Crew Standards, Training and Licensing), Series J, Part I, Issue V. It is a draft. That status matters for how you read everything below, and it is worth holding in mind throughout.

What CAR Section 7 Series J Part III Rev 2 changes for pilots

The revision touches several areas at once. A handful of changes have a direct, daily effect on how a duty day is built and how rest is planned.

A longer weekly rest floor

The continuous weekly rest entitlement increased from 36 hours to 48 hours. In practice this is a planning change as much as a rest change, because rosters that previously satisfied the floor with a 36 hour block now have to be built around a longer protected period. If you track your own rest, this is one of the numbers worth watching against your roster.

A wider definition of the night period

The night period was extended to 00:00 to 06:00. The earlier framework defined it more narrowly, from 01:00 to 05:00. The window of the night that the rules treat as the most fatiguing is therefore an hour wider at each end. Because duty that touches this window is constrained more tightly, the change can affect whether a particular report or release time pushes a duty day into reduced limits.

Cumulative flight time caps

Rev 2 sets cumulative flight time limits of 60 hours in any 7 consecutive days and 100 hours in any 28 consecutive days. These are rolling windows, not calendar weeks or months, so the relevant question is what your total looks like across the last 7 and the last 28 days from any given point. Third party analysis has noted that these figures sit in line with the ceilings used in other major frameworks, and the broader revision reflects the fatigue management principles set out in ICAO Annex 6.

Multi-sector days and WOCL encroachment

Two further provisions shorten the permitted duty day depending on how it is flown. The more landings in a flight duty period, the shorter the duty day the rules allow, so a high sector count compresses the available FDP. Separately, when an FDP encroaches on the Window of Circadian Low, the maximum FDP is reduced by up to 2 hours, with the size of the reduction depending on how far into that window the duty extends. The two effects can stack, which is why a multi-sector day that also runs through the early hours ends up with the tightest limits.

Provision	Previous CAR	Rev 2
Weekly rest floor	36 hours continuous	48 hours continuous
Night period	01:00 to 05:00	00:00 to 06:00

The cumulative caps, the multi-sector reduction, and the WOCL reduction are best read together as the mechanics that set your maximum FDP on any given day:

The compliance side: schemes and personal records

Two requirements sit behind all of this. First, operators must submit their FDTL scheme to DGCA for approval, and that scheme forms part of the Operations Manual, so the specific limits you fly to are the approved scheme limits read against the CAR. Second, every pilot must maintain a personal record of daily flight time, duty period, FDP, and rest periods. Those records must be kept for 18 months. The personal record requirement is the part that sits squarely with the individual rather than the operator, and it is the part a logbook is built to handle.

The cabin crew draft CAR, issued October 2025

The cabin crew CAR is the newer development. Issued as CAR Section 7 (Cabin Crew Standards, Training and Licensing), Series J, Part I, Issue V on 15 October 2025, it sets out a dedicated flight duty time limitation framework for cabin crew. It is mandated under Annex 6 Part I of the Chicago Convention and Rules 42A and 133A of the Aircraft Rules, 1937, which is the legal footing it cites for bringing cabin crew fatigue management under a formal scheme.

In scope, it applies to all cabin crew on scheduled, non-scheduled, and commuter air transport services. That is a wide net, and it is deliberately so: it covers the full range of Indian commercial operations rather than scheduled carriers alone.

The draft defines the key terms that any FDTL framework turns on: flight duty period, duty period, rest period, and acclimatisation. Defining these explicitly for cabin crew is itself part of the point, because it gives operators and crew a common vocabulary that was not previously set out for them in a dedicated instrument. As with the pilot side, operators are required to submit a cabin crew FDTL scheme to DGCA for approval, so the structure of approval mirrors the flight crew model.

The single most important thing to hold onto is its status. It was issued as a draft in October 2025. Until DGCA notifies a final version, the precise limits and the date from which they apply are not settled, and cabin crew should treat the specifics as provisional rather than current.

Pilot CAR and cabin crew draft CAR: the key differences

The two frameworks rhyme, but they are not the same instrument, and they are at different stages.

	Pilot CAR	Cabin crew draft CAR
Instrument	Section 7 Series J Part III Rev 2	Section 7 Series J Part I Issue V
Status	In force, rolled out in two phases	Draft, issued 15 October 2025
Applies to	Flight crew on Indian operations	All cabin crew on scheduled, non-scheduled, and commuter services
Scheme approval	Operator FDTL scheme submitted to DGCA	Operator FDTL scheme submitted to DGCA
Key terms defined	FDP, duty period, rest, WOCL, cumulative caps	FDP, duty period, rest period, acclimatisation

The headline difference is enforceability. The pilot CAR is fully in force following the November 2025 phase, so its provisions are the rules pilots fly to now. The cabin crew CAR is a draft, so it signals the direction of travel without yet being the operative rule. The second difference is maturity of detail. The pilot revision carries specific, numerically defined limits such as the 48 hour rest floor and the cumulative caps, while the cabin crew draft establishes the framework and the definitions and leaves the finalised specifics to the notified version.

What this means on the line

For pilots, the practical effect is felt in three places. Scheduling is the first: a wider night period and a longer weekly rest floor change which roster patterns are legal, so duty days that touch the early hours and weeks built around the old 36 hour block are the ones most likely to look different. Roster monitoring is the second: the 60 hour and 100 hour caps are rolling windows, so the useful habit is checking your running totals across the last 7 and 28 days rather than against a calendar boundary. Personal record-keeping is the third: the requirement to hold daily flight time, duty period, FDP, and rest for 18 months means the record has to be both accurate and retained, not reconstructed later from memory.

For cabin crew, the immediate task is different because the rule is still a draft. The sensible position is to understand the defined terms now, watch for the notified final version, and be ready to read your operator's approved scheme against it once it is published. Reading the draft early is preparation, not compliance, and it is worth keeping the two separate in your own planning.

Across both groups, none of this needs to be read as a burden. The revisions are fatigue driven and sit within the fatigue management principles of ICAO Annex 6. The reason the limits tighten around the night period and the WOCL is that those are the hours where fatigue risk is highest, and the reason the records have to be kept is that a scheme only works if the underlying duty and rest data is sound.

Keeping your own record with Wingman

The personal record requirement is the part of all this that sits with you rather than your operator, and it is exactly what a logbook is for. Wingman pilot logbook is used by more than 30,000 pilots across over 400 airlines, and it runs the same logbook on iOS, Android, and Web, so the record you keep is the same wherever you open it.

For the FDTL side specifically, Wingman is where you record and hold the data the CAR asks you to keep: flight time, duty period, FDP, and rest periods, entry by entry, in a record that stays with you across the 18 month retention window and well beyond it. It does not replace your operator's approved scheme and it does not interpret the CAR for you. What it does is keep your own numbers accurate and retrievable, which is the foundation everything else is checked against. When you need to move data into the regulator's system, the eGCA logbook upload guide covers that step.

You can read the source rules on the DGCA portal, and pilots should check their own operator's approved FDTL scheme alongside the CAR, since the scheme is the version that governs your roster day to day.

FAQ

What is the DGCA FDTL CAR and who does it apply to?

A flight duty time limitation CAR is a Civil Aviation Requirement issued by DGCA that sets limits on duty and flight time and minimum rest for crew. There are now two relevant instruments: CAR Section 7 Series J Part III Rev 2 for pilots, which is in force, and a draft CAR Section 7 Series J Part I Issue V for cabin crew, issued in October 2025. The pilot CAR applies to flight crew on Indian operations, and the cabin crew draft applies to all cabin crew on scheduled, non-scheduled, and commuter air transport services.

What changed in the pilot FDTL rules under CAR Section 7 Series J Part III Rev 2?

The most direct changes are a weekly rest floor that increased from 36 hours to 48 hours of continuous rest, and a night period that widened from 01:00 to 05:00 under the earlier framework to 00:00 to 06:00. Rev 2 also sets cumulative flight time caps of 60 hours in any 7 consecutive days and 100 hours in any 28 consecutive days, reduces the permitted duty day as the number of landings rises, and cuts the maximum FDP by up to 2 hours where the duty encroaches on the Window of Circadian Low.

What is the new cabin crew FDTL CAR and is it currently in force?

It is CAR Section 7 (Cabin Crew Standards, Training and Licensing), Series J, Part I, Issue V, issued by DGCA on 15 October 2025. It establishes a dedicated FDTL framework for cabin crew, defines the key terms, and requires operators to submit a cabin crew FDTL scheme for DGCA approval. It was issued as a draft, so it is not yet in force, and the finalised limits and effective date will follow the notified version.

How does the night period definition affect an Indian pilot's duty day?

The night period under Rev 2 runs from 00:00 to 06:00, an hour wider at each end than the earlier 01:00 to 05:00 window. Duty that encroaches on this window, specifically the Window of Circadian Low, can reduce the maximum FDP by up to 2 hours depending on how far into it the duty runs. A wider window means more report and release times fall inside it, so it is more likely to constrain a given duty day than the older definition would have.

What records are pilots required to maintain under the new FDTL rules?

Each pilot must maintain a personal record of daily flight time, duty period, FDP, and rest periods. Those records must be kept for 18 months. This is an individual obligation that sits alongside the operator's duty to hold an approved FDTL scheme as part of the Operations Manual.

How does WOCL encroachment reduce a pilot's maximum FDP?

When a flight duty period extends into the Window of Circadian Low, which falls within the 00:00 to 06:00 night period, the maximum permitted FDP is reduced by up to 2 hours. The size of the reduction depends on the extent of the encroachment, so a duty that only just touches the window is affected less than one that runs well into it. This reduction can combine with the multi-sector reduction on a day with several landings.

Can Wingman help me track my FDTL compliance as an Indian pilot?

Wingman is a logbook where you record and retain the data the CAR asks pilots to keep: flight time, duty period, FDP, and rest periods. It holds that record across the 18 month retention window on iOS, Android, and Web. It is a record-keeping tool rather than a substitute for your operator's approved FDTL scheme, so the right way to use it is to keep your own numbers accurate and check them against the scheme that governs your roster.

Keep your own numbers accurate

The CAR puts the personal record in your hands, and the simplest way to meet that is to log as you go rather than reconstruct later. Track your flight time, FDP, and rest periods accurately with Wingman pilot logbook. The free tier covers up to 250 hours, and full access in India is ₹4,499 per year. Start free.