Rule concession draws ire of pilots

A pilot union and pilots working for IndiGo rued the government's decision to relax new crew rostering norms in the wake of the chaos it caused - with 1,600 flights cancelled since Tuesday by the airline - because the airline was not staffed adequately to meet the new Flight Duty Time Limitations that came into effect November 1, but were announced in early 2024.

- Neha LM Tripathi

Passengers line up at the international airport in Hyderabad.

(AF)

One person termed the airline's action "blackmail" and demanded that it be slapped with a hefty fine.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Friday exempted Indigo's Airbus A320 fleet from certain rules on pilot duty hours at night, after a representation from the airline a day earlier. It also allowed Indigo to call back pilots deputed elsewhere for flying duties. Separately, it withdrew a rule that prevented airlines from counting pilot leave as weekly rest to meet flying duty norms.

The new norms, based on global benchmarks, were expected to make flying safer, and also improve working conditions for pilots.

The relaxation, according to aviation regulator DGCA, was prompted by representations from IndiGo citing "severe operational disruptions, including massive flight cancellations/delays and consequential passenger inconvenience." The airline told the regulator that the disruption had "primarily arisen due to the implementation of Phase-II of the revised FDTL Civil Aviation Requirements .... "