Khushi Bajpai
Published on: September 12, 2022 at 19:42 IST
The Delhi High Court has ruled that, given the COVID-19 pandemic’s current state, the administration of Breath Analyzer Tests (BAT) for Air Traffic Controllers, Commercial Pilots, Cabin Crew, and Other Staff Members shall continue in accordance with the directives issued by the Director General of Civil Aviation.
A number of petitions regarding the breathalyzer test that commercial pilots and ATCs must pass before reporting for duty at airports were being considered by Justice Pratibha M. Singh.
The court had issued a number of directives for the administration of breathalyzer tests for all ATCs, pilots, cabin crews, and other workers at all airports by May 11, 2021.
The DGCA has filed an application to have some of those directives modified.
On behalf of the DGCA, it was stated that new regulations had been published in response to the directives, taking into account the evolving COVID-19 pandemic situation as well as the rise in air traffic volume brought on by the return of all airlines to 100% normal operations.
In order to administer BAT, the doctor and any other paramedic or nursing workers on duty were required to undergo a fast antigen test for COVID-19.
The petitions requested that this requirement be waived, as well as permission to conduct BAT tests in accordance with pre-COVID standards.
Additionally, it asked for instructions to waive the requirement of doing no more than six tests in an hour and to allow BAT to proceed in accordance with pre-COVID guidelines.
