As cancellations mount, DGCA allows IndiGo temporary exemption from some FDTL rules; Govt announces inquiry

The DGCA order on the one-time exemptions stated that they are being granted solely to facilitate operational stabilisation and must not be construed as dilution of safety requirements. Naidu also said that the decision has been taken solely in the interest of passengers, and along with other measures, is likely to help IndiGo’s schedule to stabilise and return to normal by tomorrow with the complete restoration of services within the next three days. On Thursday, Naidu had expressed “clear displeasure regarding the manner in which the situation has been handled by the airline” at a review meeting, the ministry said. Naidu had stressed that ample preparatory time was available to ensure a seamless transition to the new regulatory requirements.

The new FDTL rules were implemented in two phases—from July 1 and November 1—with the aim of better managing pilot fatigue—a key risk to aviation safety. Pilot associations criticised the DGCA’s decision to grant exemptions to IndiGo, and demanded the exemptions to be withdrawn. The DGCA issued an appeal to pilots and their groupings, urging them to help maintain stable and smooth flight operations during this busy and travel-sensitive period, reduce avoidable delays and cancellations, and strengthen coordination with airlines. The regulator assured pilots that it is committed to aviation safety and the implementation of the new FDTL “in letter and spirit”.

IndiGo—India’s largest airline with a domestic market share of over 60 per cent—had on Thursday requested the DGCA for the exemptions till February 10. IndiGo had also informed the regulator that it will start reducing flight operations from Monday (December 8) to minimise the disruption, and expected normalised and stable operations to be fully restored by February 10.

With these exemptions, the definition of ‘night’ for IndiGo will mean midnight to 5 am, instead of midnight to 6 am, as prescribed in the new FDTL rules. The exemptions also allow IndiGo pilots flying during these hours to perform up to six landings; the new norms had capped night landings to just two. Additionally, the DGCA has also withdrawn a clause related to a weekly rest period for all airlines in view of the disruptions. The new FDTL norms stipulated that no other leaves could be substituted against the mandatory weekly rest period of 48 hours for pilots; this has been withdrawn with immediate effect. The DGCA has also released 12 Flight Operations Inspectors (FOIs) on deputation with it from IndiGo for flying duties and simulator checks for a week.

The exemptions will be reviewed fortnightly with IndiGo required to submit every two weeks a progress report on actual utilisation of crew, steps taken to improve crew availability, operability improvements achieved, and revised crew planning and rostering measures. The airline was also directed by the regulator to submit within 30 days a roadmap for full compliance with the new FDTL rules.

In a meeting with the DGCA on Thursday, IndiGo accepted that it had misjudged and underestimated its flight crew requirement under the new FDTL rules, which became the primary cause of the widespread disruption. With each passing day, the scale of the disruption has expanded. On Friday, over 500 IndiGo flights are estimated to have been cancelled at major airports, with all domestic departures from its Delhi hub cancelled till midnight. Given IndiGo’s dominant share in passenger traffic, the disruption has caused chaos at Indian airport with thousands of passengers hit by extended flight delays and cancellations. The IndiGo disruption has also led to a surge in airfares of other carriers, as people scramble to secure an airplane seat.

Apologising to passengers, Elbers said the situation should normalise between December 10 and 15, in view of the airline’s size, scale, and complexity of operations. In a video message, Elbers said that cancellations would progressively reduce from hereon, with Saturday likely to have less than 1,000 flight cancellations. Friday was the worst day of disruption for IndiGo with well over a thousand flight cancellations.

“…we decided today for a reboot of all our systems and schedules, resulting in the highest number of cancellations so far, but imperative for progressive improvements starting tomorrow onwards. With these actions, we expect tomorrow to have cancellations below 1,000. The support of DGCA, in providing specific FDTL implementation relief, is of great help,” Elbers said.

With its fleet of over 400 aircraft, IndiGo operates over 2,300 flights a day, and follows a lean staffing model. By contrast, the next biggest airline group—Air India—operates less than half the number of flights IndiGo operates.

Under the new FDTL rules, the weekly rest period for pilots was increased to 48 hours from 36, and night landings were limited to two from six earlier. The new norms also extended the definition of night hours and capped consecutive night duties to just two days a week. The night duty-related changes took effect from November 1, and started impacting IndiGo’s flight operations, as the airline operates a significant number of night-time flights and follows a model that relies on high utilisation rates for aircraft and crew.

The primary reason for this disruption is crew shortages in the wake of the new FDTL rules. As per the DGCA, IndiGo informed it that the disruptions “have arisen primarily from misjudgement and planning gaps in implementing” the second phase of new FDTL rules, with the airline accepting that the actual crew requirement for the new rules exceeded what it had anticipated. According to data presented to the DGCA by IndiGo, with the new FDTL rules, it requires 2,422 captains and 2,153 first officers to operate its Airbus A320 fleet to maintain stable operations. But it currently has 2,357 captains and 2,194 first officers operating the A320 aircraft.

Although the new FDTL rules apply to all domestic airlines, IndiGo has been the most severely-affected carrier. The factors that have made IndiGo more vulnerable, according to industry sources, include its massive scale of operations, a high-frequency network, significant number of night and wee hour flights, and high aircraft and crew utilisation levels, leaving little elbow room for the airline to manage crew shortages. Also, other Indian carriers are currently operating at lower-than-optimal aircraft utilisation levels due to reasons like delayed new aircraft deliveries and planes grounded for overhaul and refit, lending more flexibility in crew rostering. While IndiGo managed the new FDTL norms’ first phase—which included longer weekly rest periods for crew—without much impact, the second phase that included a curtailment of crew utilisation levels for the so-called red eye flights has hit IndiGo the hardest.