IndiGo crisis | Pilots’ body hits out at DGCA’s ‘unsafe’ exemption amid mass cancellations

Mumbai: Amid the crisis involving the IndiGo operations, the Airline Pilots Association of India (ALPA) has slammed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) expressing strong objection over selective and unsafe dispensations granted to IndiGo under the revised Flight Duty Time Limit (FDTL) CAR Phase II implementation.

"The situation concerning the recent flight cancellations across India allegedly attributed to pilot shortage due to new FDTL norms, raises significant questions about the airline’s management, regulatory oversight by the DGCA, and market fairness,” ALPA President Sam Thomas said.

“Granting continuous or unwarranted exemptions to FDTL norms would compromise passenger and crew safety, as the entire purpose of the new norms is to reduce pilot fatigue. Any relaxation granted, should be based on scientific assessment and adequate risk mitigation,” he added.

Slamming the management oversight and tactics, he said all airlines, including IndiGo, were aware of the revised FDTL norms, issued by the DGCA in January 2024.

"Despite sufficient time being accorded, most airlines started preparing rather late, failing to properly adjust crew rosters, 15 days in advance as required. This suggests an initial managerial underestimation or delay in the strategic planning necessary to provision crew accordingly. While the new norms mandate increased rest periods and other restrictions to combat pilot fatigue, this does not necessarily increase the total number of pilots needed to maintain a schedule,” he said.

Aviation experts have suggested that the resulting delays and cancellations across airlines could be an "immature pressure tactic" to arm-twist the regulator for further relaxations or dispensations in the new FDTL norms, thereby compromising the original, stricter safety intent.

Thomas pointed out that allocation is based on historical usage (grandfather rights) and an airline's proposed schedule, which typically assumes sufficient crew and aircraft.

“If airlines planned for a high number of flights in their winter schedule, potentially "hoarding" premium slots (which rivals would have liked), and then failed to operate them satisfactorily, it suggests a misuse of the process, intentionally or not,” he said, pointing out that if airlines consistently fail to meet this minimum usage for a prolonged period due to a self-inflicted pilot shortage, the DGCA has the mechanism to re-assess and potentially revoke those slots and reallocate them to other airlines, who have the capacity to use them.