New pilot roster norms tied to 150 IndiGo flight cancellations: What are they?

IndiGo has been impacted by an acute pilot shortage ever since the new Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms came into effect.

At least 150 IndiGo flights were cancelled on Wednesday, and many flights were delayed as India’s largest airline faces one of the biggest operational disruptions in recent years, mainly due to a crew shortage. Chaos broke out among passengers who waited for hours to board their flights, while others saw their schedules affected due to the cancellation of their flights.

IndiGo recorded an on-time performance score of just 35% on Tuesday. (PTI)

IndiGo apologised for the chaos and said that it has initiated “calibrated adjustments” to its flight schedules. Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said that it is looking into the IndiGo flight disruptions and has asked the airline to submit a report detailing the reasons for the situation.

IndiGo flight disruptions: What caused the chaos?

An airline spokesperson said that IndiGo’s operations have been “significantly disrupted across the network for the past two days” and attributed the reasons to a combination of factors, including tech glitches, unfavourable weather, increased congestion and the implementation of updated Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) that came into effect in November.

Adding to this, an urgent Airbus A320 software patch disrupted several of IndiGo’s flights over the last weekend (November 29-30) and affected the airline’s operations that were already grappling with the new FDTL rules related to roster management.

For the unversed, Airbus issued a mandatory implementation of a software fix over half of its active A320 jetliner family fleet after 15 passengers were injured on a JetBlue-operated Airbus A320 flight from Mexico due to an emergency landing caused by a sudden drop in altitude.

Although the airline tried to manage the tighter crew issues, people aware of the matter said that the situation turned into a crisis after the mandatory Airbus software patch, as mentioned in an earlier HT report.

What are the FDTL norms?

Notably, the carrier has largely been impacted by an acute pilot shortage ever since the new FDTL norms, which are aimed at reducing fatigue and improving rest periods for pilots, came into effect, people aware of the matter told HT.

These norms establish increased weekly rest periods of 48 hours, extend night hours and limit the number of night landings to only two as compared to six earlier. FDTL rules were issued by the DGCA and are the aviation watchdog’s framework to regulate flight crew members’ hours.

The updated Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) came into effect in November. (HT Photo)

Here’s a look at what the rules say:

• Weekly rest: Pilots must be given 48 consecutive hours’ rest every week to help them recover from fatigue.
• Restricted night landings: Pilots can only perform a maximum of 2 landings during night operations (between midnight and 6 am).
• Consecutive night duties: Airlines must not roster flight crew members for more than two consecutive nights with a duty period within the night operations.

IndiGo’s punctuality scores drop

Often known for its punctuality, the airline recorded an on-time performance score of just 35% on Tuesday, official data showed.

Notably, this was the lowest among all Indian airlines and a significant drop from the airline’s usual 80%-above performance score at key Indian airports.

The Airline Pilots Association of India, representing more than 800 pilots, criticised a “failure of proactive resource planning” by dominant airlines amid the crisis at IndiGo.

With inputs from agencies