"'IndiGo Standard Time' Now Linked To Delays": Pilots Body Jabs Airline

A pilots' body heaped pressure on IndiGo Wednesday night even as India's largest airline battles an operational crisis, arguably its worst ever, brought on by 'technology glitches, adverse weather conditions, a congested aviation sector, and changed crew rostering rules'.

The Federation of Indian Pilots, in a punchy statement, blamed the airline's "long-standing, lean manpower strategy, and poor planning across departments, especially flight ops".

The FIP pointed to a two-year implementation window for the new crew roster rules, i.e., the FDTL, or Flight Duty Time Limitations, and said IndiGo's problems could not be linked to the Delhi High Court-mandated regulations, and pointed to normal operations at domestic airlines.

"Stop blaming pilots… fix management practices," the FIP said, pointing out that all airlines were given a two-year window before the first phase of FDTL roll-out on July 1. Despite this, the federation argued, IndiGo imposed a hiring freeze, a non-poaching pact, and froze pilots' pay.

Poor morale among crew members after leave was refused – even as, the FIP alleged, company executives got 100 per cent increments – added to the general air of discontentment, it said.

The airline was also blamed for expanding flight schedules, particularly seasonal ops, without the necessary pilots. The FIP called on the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to approve seasonal flights only after airlines prove pilot strength – under the new FDTL norms – to operate safely and reliably.

"If IndiGo continues to fail in delivering on commitments to passengers… due to its own avoidable staffing shortages, the FIP urges the DGCA to consider reallocating slots to airlines, like Air India and Akasa Air, who have the capacity to operate without disruption during peak holiday and fog season."

There was chaos across major airports as IndiGo battled "operational challenges".

IndiGo flight delays and cancellations at major airports, including Delhi and Mumbai, continued Thursday morning. Over 200 flights have been affected over the past 72 hours, news agency PTI said.

READ | Chaos At Airports As More IndiGo Flights Cancelled Amid Crew Crisis

The airline, which operates around 2,300 domestic and international flights daily, said a "multitude of unforeseen operational challenges" had significantly disrupted operations.

NDTV Explains | Why IndiGo Had To Cancel Over 200 Flights Across India

"We acknowledge IndiGo's operations have been significantly disrupted across the network for the past two days, and we sincerely apologise to our customers for the inconvenience caused," the airline said.

READ | 200 IndiGo Flights Cancelled, Ops Hit, Airline Blames "Flight Duty" Audit

Meanwhlle, aviation industry sources confirmed what the piltos body said in its statement – that IndiGo has been grappling with an acute crew shortage since the second phase of the FDTL rules were implemented on November 1, and that aggravated the airline's cancellations and delays.

The extent of those aggaravations was underscored by the airline, which prides itself on its punctuality, recording an OTP, or On Time Performance, score of 35 per cent on December 2.

What are FDTL rules?

These cap the number of hours a crew member can be on duty.

It limits flying to eight hours a day, 35 hours a week, 125 hours a month, and 1,000 hours a year, and also specifies mandatory rest periods; these require every crew receive downtime amounting to twice the duration of their flight time, with a minimum of 10 hours of rest within any 24-hour window.

These were introduced to ensure sufficient rest for pilots and cabin crew, and to guard against their being pushed into fatigue that could compromise safety.

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