"I have heard similar reports of this happening in other low cost carriers. It is improper and illegal if it is true that pilots are not given proper regulated rest periods," Desmond Ross said.
Ross also said that International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) set down standards for crew rest periods as does the European Union.
"These rules are adopted by most civil aviation authorities. However, in some countries they are not well regulated and the pilots sometimes accept such additional flights and work schedules on the basis of being paid more. This is not a good practice," the aviation consultancy's head said.
On Tuesday, a former FlyDubai pilot told RT that Alejandro Alava, the co-pilot of the FlyDubai Boeing 737-800, that crashed while landing at Russia’s Rostov-on-Don airport last week, was extremely exhausted after working 11 days in a row ahead of the fatal flight that killed all 62 people on board while a company's current pilot later told the broadcaster that Alava did not want to fly on the day of the crash complaining on the fatigue.
According to the whistleblowers, FlyDubai's wage system encourages pilots to fly despite sickness or tiredness since days off lead to significant salary cuts.
