Air India smoothly implements new crew roster after DGCA regulations
NEW DELHI: Efficient and advanced planning by the Tata-owned Air India Group ensured that both Air India and Air India Express sailed through smoothly after the revised roster chart for airline crew, ordered by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, came into effect from November 1. The poor management and negligence by Indigo resulted in 1,232 cancellations last month, which cascaded into a full-blown catastrophe from December 1, crippling airport operations in the country. It even brought operations at the countrys busiest airport, Indira Gandhi International Airport, to a standstill for 24 hours. Way back in October, when the Ministry of Civil Aviation finalised the winter schedule (October 26, 2025, to March 28, 2026) for all airlines, Indigo was permitted to operate 15,014 departures per week, the maximum permitted for any airline. Air India and Air India Express were a far second and third, allotted 4,277 and 3,171 flights respectively per week. Sources across Air India said the new Flight Duty Time Limitations were undoubtedly a huge challenge, as literally everything had to be changed. The DGCA had informed all the airlines by March 2024 that they had to be implemented, and airlines kept seeking time to implement them as it was a mammoth task. Air India began recruitment of Captains and Flying Officers as soon as it officially took over the airline two years ago, said a source. We went all out to recruit pilots for two reasons we had massive expansion plans with orders for 570 new aircraft placed as of date. They definitely need cockpit crew in large numbers when they arrive. Training of pilots is a huge exercise, and we wanted to be ready. Secondly, we understood that the new roster would require a massive increase in operational crew, he explained. Indigo officially told the DGCA a day ago that a technical glitch in its software was also a contributory reason for the massive crisis it caused. An Air India source said, When it was made known clearly to all of us that the new rules will fully come into effect by November 1, we began work on it by October. The software involved in it is a very complicated one. It is very technical and involves countless algorithms. It took us two months to ready it fully. Another source said the fully operational software was in place by mid-October only. We trial ran it for 15 days to sort out teething problems and other issues. When they were fully implemented, we were fully ready for it, he explained. The professional approach towards management that the Tata Group brings to the table is a key reason we sailed through smoothly, added another source.
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