The ongoing saga of flight cancellations and delays with Indigo Airlines shows no signs of slowing down. Over the past few days, thousands of passengers have been left stranded and frustrated. As India’s largest airline, which handles over 60% of domestic passenger traffic, Indigo is currently grappling with a massive operational crisis. The root cause of this disruption is a shortage of crew members following the implementation of new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) rules. The second and final phase of these new regulations, which govern crew rest and duty periods, came into effect last month, and it appears Indigo was not fully prepared for the impact.
The situation has deteriorated significantly. On Wednesday, December 3, only 19.7% of Indigo flights operated on time, a sharp drop from 35% on Tuesday and roughly 50% on Monday. This operational meltdown has created chaos at airports across the country. Social media platforms are flooded with posts from disappointed passengers sharing their ordeals regarding long delays and sudden cancellations. Many have also complained about being forced to book expensive last-minute tickets on other airlines due to these disruptions.
Indigo has issued an apology and initiated “calibrated adjustments” to stabilize operations. This involves rescheduling and canceling certain flights based on crew availability. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has also intervened, asking the airline to explain the reasons behind the current situation and submit a corrective plan.
Why Is Indigo the Most Affected by New Rules?
Since the new FDTL rules apply to all domestic airlines, the question arises: why is Indigo suffering so disproportionately? According to industry insiders, the answer lies in Indigo’s specific business model. The airline operates on a massive scale with a high-frequency network, a large number of late-night and early-morning flights, and very high utilization levels for both aircraft and crew.
Other Indian carriers are currently operating below their maximum capacity due to reasons such as delayed deliveries of new aircraft or planes being grounded for repairs. This gives them more flexibility in crew rostering because they have a surplus of pilots relative to the size of their active fleet. Indigo, however, runs a tighter ship, leaving little room for error when roster requirements change.
What Do the New FDTL Rules Say?
Under the new FDTL regulations, the weekly rest period for pilots has been increased from 36 hours to 48 hours. Furthermore, the number of permissible night landings for pilots has been reduced from six to two. These changes have severely impacted Indigo’s crew rostering capabilities. The rules also extended the definition of night hours by one hour, adding further constraints to airline operations.
The primary objective of these new rules is to better manage pilot fatigue, which is considered a major risk in aviation safety. Originally scheduled for implementation in June 2024, the rules were deferred following opposition from Indigo and other airlines. The airlines argued that the new rules would require a significantly larger crew pool and requested a phased implementation over an extended period.
However, following a directive from the Delhi High Court, the DGCA proceeded to enforce these rules this year in two phases—July and November. While Indigo managed the first phase, which involved longer weekly rest periods, without major issues, the second phase has hit them hard. This phase requires a reduction in crew utilization levels for “Red Eye” flights, impacting Indigo far more than other carriers.
Why Couldn’t Indigo Handle the Situation?
As a champion of the low-cost carrier model, Indigo’s aircraft and crew utilization levels are significantly higher than those of other Indian carriers. The airline also operates more night flights than its competitors. With a fleet of over 400 aircraft, Indigo operates more than 2,300 flights daily, connecting over 90 domestic and 45 international destinations. Even a 10% flight cancellation rate translates to over 230 cancelled flights for Indigo. In comparison, the Air India group, the next largest airline entity, operates less than half that number of flights.
According to the DGCA, Indigo reported 1,232 flight cancellations in November alone. Of these, 755 were due to crew and FDTL-related constraints, 258 were due to airspace and airport restrictions, 92 were due to air traffic control system failures, and 127 were for various other reasons. The airline’s On-Time Performance (OTP) also plummeted from 84.1% in November to 67.7%. With widespread disruptions at the start of December, the OTP of Indigo, which has long prided itself on being India’s most punctual airline, has fallen even further.
