IndiGo sought clarity on FDTL from DGCA two days before operations collapsed

More than 3500 flights were cancelled in one week by IndiGo

Officials of embattled airline IndiGo had met Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) officials on December 1, two days prior to the start of the massive disruption in flight schedules, but never mentioned any difficulties in implementing the new rules, raising questions about the airline’s top management awareness of the situation.

The government is also probing why it took a month for the airline to report problems in implementing its committed flight plans as the second phase of the new crew duty norms took effect from November 1. While during the entire month of November IndiGo cancelled just under 1,300 flights, the number of flights cancelled on December 5 stood at a staggering 1,500.

“DGCA and IndiGo officials met each other for clarifications on FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitations) sought by the airline. Whatever issues needed clarifications was provided to the airline. Even in that meeting there was no issue raised by IndiGo about its inability to comply with the new norms. Then what happened within two days?” a government official privy to the matter said.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has formed a four-member committee to probe aspects on IndiGo’s crew planning, operational readiness and compliance with the new FDTL norms. The report is expected to be tabled by December 20. An email sent to IndiGo remained unanswered at the time of publishing this article.

“The (civil aviation) ministry was open for communication and so was the DGCA. Why was only IndiGo affected by this and that too after one month? The order from the High Court came in April 2025, giving enough time to all airlines to comply with the norms,” said the official. The official was referring to a Delhi High Court order on implementation of revised FDTL norms in two phases aimed to address pilot fatigue and enhance safety.

After more than 3,500 flights were cancelled over a week causing massive inconvenience to passengers of all airlines and not just IndiGo, the government appears to be keen on "setting an example by taking strict action on IndiGo" to make sure that such a situation does not arise again or other airlines do not commit a similar mistake.

IndiGo on December 8 requested more time from the DGCA to respond to its show-cause notice. The airline said it is "realistically not possible to pinpoint the exact cause(s) (behind the disruption)" at this time due to the complexity and vast scale of operations.

The new FDTL norms require hiring of more pilots. Estimates suggest that IndiGo is falling short by nearly 150 pilots. The airline immediately lifted the hiring freeze which was in force for several months to start recruiting captains and first officers for the A320 family aircraft.

Minister of state for civil aviation Murlidhar Mohol in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha said six airlines have employed 13,989 pilots. Of these Air India and its low-cost arm Air India Express have the maximum 6350 pilots followed by IndiGo with 5085.

IndiGo with a considerably larger operational fleet compared to Air India has a smaller pilot pool because of its fleet composition. IndiGo’s fleet is dominated by narrow-body aircraft such as the A320 while Air India group’s fleet comprises a mix of narrow-body and wide-body aircraft. Wide-body aircraft needs more cockpit crew than narrow-body ones.

The revised Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms, brought into effect a stricter regime aimed at reducing pilot fatigue and enhancing operational safety.

The rules, implemented in two stages this year, introduce sweeping changes to duty hours, night-time operations, and mandatory rest periods. Phase II took effect on November 1, activating seven clauses that were deferred when the first phase was rolled out in July.

The revised norms also increase the minimum weekly rest requirement form 36 hours to 48 hours, mandating longer recovery periods for flight crew. Airlines are required to redesign rosters accordingly and ensure compliance through internal fatigue-risk management systems.

Separately, carriers must now submit quarterly fatigue reports, documenting crew rest patterns and any fatigue-related safety concerns under a non-punitive reporting structure.