India’s aviation regulator, the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) withdrew part of its Flight Duty Time Limitation rules for IndiGo Airlines after 600 of its flights had to be cancelled on Friday. The first part of the rules, which states that no leave can be substituted for weekly rest, which came into effect in the first phase, was relaxed for the airlines to resolve the current crisis they are facing.
The relaxation of the rules is a "one-time exemption" which will last until February 10, 2026.
The DGCA has also asked its inspectors to operate flights for IndiGo. The regulating body hires pilots on contract for five years, during which they act as auditors and are barred from operating airlines.
In a statement, the DGCA said "Whereas, reference is invited to the above-mentioned letter, specifically to the paragraph stipulating that "no Ieave shall be substituted for weekly rest"; and whereas, in view of the ongoing operational disruptions and representations received from various airlines regarding the need to ensure continuity and stability of operations, it has been considered necessary to review the said provision,"
"Now, therefore, the instruction contained in the referenced paragraph that no leave shall be substituted for weekly rest is hereby withdrawn with immediate effect," it continued.
The revision means that the airlines do not have to differentiate between leaves and weekly rest when rostering pilots and flight crew. So a pilot who is granted 48 hours of leave will now be considered as having weekly rest.
On Thursday, DGCA extended the cap on the number of consecutive hours a pilot can fly from 12 to 14.
The Airline Pilots' Association of India (ALPA India) had earlier written to 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.
IndiGo operates about 2,200 flights in India with both domestic and international services. About 1,300 scheduled flights were cancelled in the last 48 hours because of a shortage of pilots and flight crew. About 600 flights were cancelled on Friday alone.
IndiGo said that it had misjudged the number of pilots needed under the new FDTL rules, which had also increased the rest periods for its pilots from 36 to 48 hours in a 7-day work week. The airlines ' on-time performance dropped to 8.5 per cent on Thursday, with the worsening operational disruptions impacting flight schedules.