Even February 10 DGCA deadline impossible to meet, say experts
NEW DELHI: With the Civil Aviation Ministry giving IndiGo an exemption till February 10, 2026, to implement the revised crew rostering rules, will it be possible for the airline to adhere to it by then? The two-month deadline appears impossible to meet and chaos will return to the skies, caution experts. The 10% temporary cut affected in operations to help tide the current chaos too would be restored adding to its curtailed fleet. According to a submission made by IndiGo to the DGCA, it presently has 2,357 Flight Captains which is 65 short of its requirement to operate its 403 aircraft. Aviation safety consultant, Captain Mohan Ranganathan posed this rhetorical query to this newspaper, When an airline could not implement the rules it was supposed to do even after it was given a period of 18 months to do so, how is it possible for it to implement it when an extra two months is given. There will be chaos in the skies again. The Centre will end up extending their exemptions further. Elaborating on this aspect, he said that pilots cannot be poached from other airlines as the cockpit crew in any airline has to serve a minimum notice period of six months. Captain Ranganathan explained that due to better pay and working conditions in the Gulf Region, 55 Senior Flying Officers at IndiGo, who were in line to become Captains, had resigned a few months ago and joined airlines in Gulf this year. Even if they were to hire expat pilots, they need to get clearances from the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security and Immigration authorities. They need to be trained again on the specific aircraft Indigo is operating, he said. A senior airline executive extensively involved in pilot training, said, Training a pilot to operate planes is a very elaborate exercise. It takes a minimum of five to six months to train a pilot. And then, specific training is provided for the plane he or she would be assigned to operate. It is understood that this looming deadline and the measures IndiGo is planning are subject of regular discussion between the Indigo top management and the DGCA during the repeated meetings held this week. IndiGo did not want to make any official comment.
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