The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) on Friday suspended implementation of new flight duty time limitation (FDTL) rules, designed to ensure more humane pilot work hours, to stabilise operations at India’s largest airline, IndiGo, where disruptions have spiralled nationwide. The relief has been provided until February 10.
Moreover, in an unprecedented move, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) told IndiGo it may use the regulator’s 12 flight operations inspectors (FOIs) for a 7–10 day period “to support crew scheduling and operational requirements.” These FOIs are IndiGo pilots currently posted with the regulator as inspectors, and are normally barred from operating commercial flights to avoid conflicts of interest.
These moves followed a spike in cancellations by the airline. IndiGo scrapped well over 1,000 flights, out of about 2,300 daily operations, on Friday, including all 243 domestic departures from Delhi, an estimated 80–85 per cent of its 196 daily flights from Mumbai, and around 98 flights from Chennai.
Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said in a statement that the decision to put new FDTL rules in abeyance was made “without compromising safety” and solely in the interest of “passengers, especially senior citizens, students, patients, and others who rely on timely air travel for essential needs.”
The Airline Pilots’ Association of India pushed back, writing to the DGCA that “IndiGo pilots will now fly with reduced rest and increased fatigue, placing their passengers at elevated risk.”
The DGCA, in a separate letter to all pilot groups, “earnestly requested” full cooperation to ensure passengers aren’t further inconvenienced during a period routinely hit by fog, holiday demand and wedding-season traffic.
Naidu said a high-level inquiry has been launched to determine what went wrong at IndiGo, identify accountability and recommend measures to prevent future disruptions. Flight schedules are expected to stabilise by tomorrow, with “complete restoration of services” anticipated within three days, he said.
The revised FDTL rules entered their second and final phase on November 1, activating seven clauses deferred during July’s rollout. Phase II tightened limits on pilot duty during the early-morning “window of circadian low” (roughly 0200-0600 hours), when fatigue risk peaks. Under Para 3.11, “night duty” covers any duty overlapping 0000-0600 in a pilot’s acclimatised time zone; Para 6.1.4 caps flight time in such periods at 8 hours, total duty at 10 hours, and typically limits pilots to two landings.
IndiGo told the DGCA the “massive flight cancellations/delays” stemmed from its failure to anticipate the impact of Phase II FDTL norms on its roster from November 1. The carrier admitted its crew planning was “insufficient” and “indicated” that new recruitment will take place in the coming days to meet required standards, the regulator said.
The DGCA noted the Delhi High Court issued its order on the new rules in April, and that the regulator issued “repeated” directions to IndiGo from “time to time” to prepare for implementation.
In a video message Friday evening, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers said the airline opted to reboot all systems and schedules on Friday, triggering its highest cancellations yet but essential for “progressive improvements” from tomorrow. “With these actions we expect tomorrow to have cancellations below 1,000. The support of DGCA in providing specific FDTL implementation relief is of great help,” he said.
“Still, there is a lot of work in progress, but going forward from here, in alignment with the MoCA and DGCA, we expect to further improve every day. Given the size, scale and complexity of our operations, it will take some time to return to a full normal situation, which we anticipate between December 10 and 15,” the CEO said.
After deliberations with the ministry, the DGCA said it suspended the new rules as a one-time measure to stabilise the national aviation network and restore passenger services. The exemption, valid until February 10, is “solely” to stabilise flight operations and shouldn’t be seen as a dilution of safety, it said, adding it reserves the right to withdraw the relief at any time.
The DGCA has asked IndiGo to file a progress report every 15 days detailing crew utilisation rates, steps to increase crew availability, operational fixes to improve reliability and changes in crew planning and rostering.
Railways rushes to aid
Indian Railways’ Northern Railway zone has increased capacity on several services to accommodate passengers affected by the IndiGo disruptions. One AC 3-tier coach has been added to the Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express (12424/23) and the Jammu Tawi Rajdhani Express (12425/26). One chair-car coach has been added to the Chandigarh Shatabdi Express and the New Delhi Swarna Jayanti Shatabdi Express, which links the capital with Amritsar. “Further arrangements are under planning,” the Railways said.
(With inputs from Dhruvaksh Saha)
