IndiGo crisis enters day 5: Over 200 flights cancelled in Delhi, Mumbai

A day after aviation watchdog DGCA relaxed the flight duty and rest period norms, IndiGo flight services continue to be disrupted on the fifth consecutive day, with over 200 flights from Delhi and Mumbai being cancelled on Saturday, December 6.

According to PTI, 109 IndiGo flights were cancelled at Mumbai airport, 51 arrivals and 58 departures, and 106 flights at Delhi airport, which included 54 departures and 52 arrivals, they said.

On Friday, when IndiGo cancelled over 1,000 flights from across airports, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers, after maintaining a stoic silence over the grave crisis for three days, apologised in a video message for the major inconvenience caused to passengers due to the disruptions.

In the one-way video communication, Elbers also said that the airline was expecting fewer than 1,000 flights on Saturday.

It may be mentioned here that on Friday, DGCA provided temporary relief to IndiGo, which is partially owned by Rahul Bhatia, by way of rolling back the night duty definition to 12 am-5 am from 12 am-6 am earlier, and allowing its pilots to do six night-landings from two earlier, besides other relaxations.

Meanwhile, the pilots' body, Airlines' Pilots Association (ALPA) India, has taken a "strong" objection to the DGCA's "selective and unsafe" relief to IndiGo, saying that the relaxations have not just "destroyed regulatory parity but also placed millions of passengers at "heightened risk".

Following the meeting convened by the Ministry of Civil Aviation with ALPA India and other pilot associations on December 5, the Ministry announced that it has decided to place the implementation of the revised FDTL CAR in abeyance.

"ALPA India expresses its deep concern that this step directly contradicts the Court's directions, which mandate the enforcement of fatigue-mitigation standards rooted in aviation science," the Association said in a statement late Friday.

It stated that keeping the FDTL in abeyance not only undermines judicial authority but also heightens the risk to pilots and passengers by delaying essential fatigue protections.

"We urge the (Civil Aviation) Ministry and the regulator to uphold the Court's order in both letter and spirit and to prioritise the safety of the pilots and travelling public above all commercial considerations," ALPA India said.

It is worth noting that IndiGo was the first carrier to oppose the new FDTL norms for pilots when they were introduced in January 2024, with a March implementation timeline.

It had been argued that the airlines require more time to put in place due to additional crew requirements. The latest FDTL norms, which entail increased weekly rest periods to 48 hours, extended night hours, and limiting the number of night landings to only two, as against six earlier, were initially also opposed by domestic airlines, including IndiGo and Tata Group-owned Air India.

But they were subsequently rolled out by the DGCA following the Delhi High Court's directives, albeit with a delay of over one year, in a phased manner, and with certain variations for airlines like IndiGo and Air India.

While the first phase of these FDTL norms came into force in July, the second phase, which reduced the number of night landings from six to two earlier, was implemented from November 1.

The norms were originally to be put in place in March 2024.

With PTI inputs