NEW DELHI: India’s largest domestic airline, IndiGo, assured on Tuesday that it is prepared to ensure stable operations as exemptions on flight duty for its crew will be lifted starting February 11.
IndiGo currently has 2,400 Pilots in Command (Flight Captains) for its Airbus fleet, exceeding the required 2,280. Similarly, it has 2,240 First Officers, well above the required 2,050, according to a statement from the aviation regulator.
In an official statement, the airline said, “We would like to confirm that IndiGo has been and will always be fully compliant with any applicable version of Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms; in fact, we have already integrated the new set of rules into our crew rosters and planning.”
The statement continued, “As assured to the regulatory authorities earlier, we are maintaining an optimum pool of employees, including pilots, to ensure stable operations across our network. IndiGo remains committed to growing further as a stronger and more resilient airline, offering reliable connectivity across our 140 destinations in India and abroad.”
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had earlier reduced IndiGo’s slots by 10%, resulting in an average daily reduction of 214 flights from its quota of 2,145 flights per day.
The airline had also been granted exemptions from the new FDTL rules, which include extending the mandatory weekly rest for pilots from 36 to 48 hours and reducing the number of weekly night landings a pilot can perform from six to two.
The operational disruptions in December, which led to the cancellation of 4,000 flights between December 2 and 9, caused significant inconvenience to passengers. An inquiry by the regulator attributed the chaos to operational deficiencies, an overemphasis on maximising crew and aircraft utilisation, inadequate regulatory preparedness, and reduced buffer margins for emergencies.