Image Source livemint
New Delhi / Mumbai – India’s largest carrier, IndiGo, is grappling with an escalating operational crisis, with hundreds of flights cancelled and delayed nationwide over the past few days, leaving thousands of passengers stranded and prompting a sharp intervention from the aviation regulator.
While the airline cites a combination of operational pressures, including new, stricter Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) rules and a resultant crew crunch, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has summoned the airline’s senior management to explain the “unprecedented disruptions.”
The Domino Effect: New Safety Rules vs. Lean Rostering
The root of the chaos, according to aviation experts and pilot associations, lies in the collision between IndiGo’s high-frequency, historically lean operational model and the DGCA’s revised FDTL norms, which came fully into effect on November 1st.
The new rules, implemented to combat pilot fatigue and enhance safety, significantly impact crew availability by:
- Extending Weekly Rest : The mandatory weekly rest period for flight crew has been increased from 36 hours to 48 consecutive hours.
- Limiting Night Operations : The number of permitted night landings for a pilot has been sharply reduced (from six to a maximum of two per week), and the definition of ‘night’ has been extended.
Data presented to the DGCA reveals the scale of the crisis: IndiGo recorded 1,232 flight cancellations in November, with 755 (over 60%) directly attributed to crew and FDTL constraints. The carrier’s on-time performance (OTP) also plummeted to 67.7% in November, a stark decline from over 84% in the previous month. Pilot Body Alleges “Avoidable Staffing Shortages”
In a strong rebuke, the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) has publicly criticized IndiGo’s management, alleging that the crisis is a direct consequence of the airline’s “prolonged and unorthodox lean manpower strategy.”
“Despite the two-year preparatory window before full FDTL implementation, IndiGo inexplicably adopted a hiring freeze… The current disruption is the direct consequence of IndiGo’s own avoidable staffing shortages.”
— Statement from the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP)
Pilot bodies contend that while the rules are mandatory for all airlines, IndiGo was hit the hardest because it failed to recruit and train sufficient staff in time, assuming its existing crew strength would suffice under the stricter limitations.
DGCA Demands Mitigation Plan
In response to the widespread passenger inconvenience, the DGCA has launched a formal investigation and instructed the airline to:
- Present all facts leading to the current disruption.
- Submit a detailed plan to immediately mitigate the ongoing delays and cancellations.
- Ensure adequate passenger support at airports.
The Minister of Civil Aviation has also directed the DGCA to monitor airfares closely to prevent price gouging during this period of operational instability.
IndiGo, while apologizing, has stated it is making “calibrated adjustments” to its schedule, effectively cutting flights to stabilize its network and seeking temporary operational relaxations from the regulator for its A320 operations until February 2026.
As the airline navigates this severe operational challenge, the episode underscores a critical tension in India’s booming aviation sector: balancing aggressive capacity expansion and cost-efficiency with uncompromising safety standards and pilot welfare.
