IndiGo, India’s largest and most affordable airline, is under heavy criticism as it faces one of the toughest crises in its history. After recording 1,232 flight cancellations in November, the airline continues to struggle with operational issues at several airports. All IndiGo flights from Delhi have been cancelled until midnight of November 5, affecting 235 services. Hyderabad saw 92 cancellations, Bengaluru 102, while Mumbai, Chennai, Pune, and Srinagar reported 104, 31, 22, and 10 cancellations, respectively. The passengers are still facing trauma due to the cancellations and delays of the airline. The company is now blaming crew shortages, new duty-time rules, technical breakdowns, and congestion. There are also reports that IndiGo’s on-time performance at six major metro airports fell sharply to 8.5% on December 5.
Pilots’ New duty time limitations
The airline, which operates one of the biggest networks in Asia with more than 2,300 flights every day, could not rebuild its pilot schedules quickly enough. The new rules changed many parts of a pilot’s duty plan. Earlier, pilots got 36 hours of weekly rest. Now it has been increased to 48 hours. Night duty now starts from midnight to 6 a.m., which is one hour longer than before. Pilots can now do only two landings at night instead of six. They also cannot work more than two nights in a row. Because of all these changes, airlines now need more pilots to run the same number of flights.
FDTL norms and DGCA
The new FDTL rules were introduced because a DGCA audit found that many pilots were suffering from fatigue. Fatigue means physical and mental tiredness that affects a pilot’s alertness and performance. It happens due to lack of sleep, long working hours, irregular duty timings, and changes in time zones. In aviation, this is a serious issue because it can impact flight safety, efficiency, and the health of pilots. The DGCA published the draft of these rules in January 2024. The updated rules were supposed to start fully on 1 June 2024, but the rollout was postponed.
Why is IndiGo and not others?
IndiGo is one of the largest airlines that runs around 2,300 plus daily services. According to a Mint report, of the nearly 1,000 domestic routes, IndiGo operates about 600 flights. Its efficiency depends on maximising crew hours. High-frequency and connecting services are the highlight of IndiGo. The limit on night landings reduced the number of flights that one set of pilots could legally handle. Airlines like Air India and Akasa have fewer night flights, so they were affected less. Overall, IndiGo ignored the early warning signs.
About the new rules – Why did airlines oppose?
The new rules were not a sudden surprise. They were originally supposed to start in June 2024. However, the airlines opposed them as it would require more pilots to complete the shifts according to this rule. After the Delhi High Court’s order, the rules were introduced in stages: 15 parts of the rules, including weekly rest and flying hours, began in July, and 7 rules related to night duty and night landings began in November. Hence, IndiGo and the other airlines are well informed about this.
Airline apologises to the passengers
IndiGo said in a statement that its network had been “significantly disrupted” over the past two days and apologised to passengers. The airline has informed the DGCA that it will reduce flights from December 8. It has also assured that normal operations will be fully restored by February 10, 2026. The key question now is why the airline is taking so long to bring the situation under control, especially when the ongoing chaos could affect its growth.
