Ending months of freeze, IndiGo started hiring captains and senior first officers (type rated) for its Airbus A320 fleet on the very day it secured a temporary waiver from the regulator for compliance of the new FDTL norms.
The Pilots' body Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) had alleged that IndiGo had adopted a ‘hiring freeze’ despite knowing that the new norms will entail expansion of the pilot pool.
On December 5, the ministry of civil aviation placed the new norms in abeyance with immediate effect for IndiGo until February 10, 2026. This came after well over 1000 flights were cancelled in a single day on December 5, the highest in the airlines’ history.
Only Indian nationals and overseas citizen of India card holders below the age of 55 years, can apply for the position. The position requires a flying experience of being a first officer on an A320 family with a minimum 200 hours post line release. Applicants must have an accident and incident free record.
On December 6, the airline issued a recruitment drive for A320 captains and above. Besides being Indian nationals or overseas citizen of India card holders below the age of 62, the applicants must have a total flying hours of 3000 Hours and minimum 100 hours as PIC post line release on A320 family.
Another pilot body Airline Pilots’ Association of India (ALPA) in a late evening statement said that it expressed its deep concern over the temporary suspension of enforcing the new FDTL norms. “This step directly contradicts the Hon’ble Court’s directions, which mandate the enforcement of fatigue-mitigation standards rooted in aviation science. Keeping the FDTL in abeyance not only undermines judicial authority but also places pilots and passengers at heightened risk by delaying essential fatigue protections,” APLA had said.
The new FDTL rules were designed to ensure safer and more humane working hours and rest periods for pilots. The one-time exemption allows IndiGo to bypass some of the stricter norms, particularly those related to night duty, with the expectation that operations will stabilize by mid-December 2025.
The airline has also opened up hiring for cabin attendant (grade trainee) for female Indian nationals aged between 18-27 years. The candidate should have the flexibility to relocate at any IndiGo base.
On Friday when IndiGo cancelled over 1000 flights, including all flights from Delhi and 258 from Mumbai, its one time performance, a key metric on which the airline built its marketing and public relations, dropped to below 4%. This means that over 96% of its flights were delayed.
On December 6, IndiGo said it is working determinedly to bring its operations back on track across the network.
“Our teams are focused on stabilising schedules, reducing delays, and supporting customers through this period. Today the number of cancellations has dropped below 850 flights, much lower compared to yesterday. We’re continuing to work towards reducing this number progressively over the next few days,”, the airline said.
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