News

Pilots say IndiGo's pay freeze, winter route expansion without new hires caused current woes

NEW DELHI: Indias largest pilot association, The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), has come out with a slew of charges against Indigo airlines for the spate of cancellations and delays on Wednesday and Tuesday. It plans to raise these points with the aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation and the Aviation Ministry. The FIP has a membership of nearly 6,000 aviation professionals, employed in India and abroad. In a strongly-worded release to the media, Captain CS Randhawa, president of FIP, said the Flight Duty Time Limit (FDTL) regulations imposed on airlines cannot be blamed for the present chaos, as all airlines in the country face the same issue and have remained largely unaffected because of timely planning. The current disruption is the direct consequence of IndiGos prolonged and unorthodox lean manpower strategy across departments, particularly in flight operations. Despite the two-year preparatory window before full Flight Duty Time Limit implementation, the airline inexplicably adopted a hiring freeze, entered non-poaching arrangements, maintained a pilot pay freeze through cartel-like behaviour, and demonstrated other short-sighted planning practices, the association charged in a statement. Following the rollout of Phase 1 of the Flight Duty Time Limit on July 1 this year, IndiGo reduced pilot leave quotas, and after Phase 2 on November 1, 2025, it attempted to buy back pilot leave days, the association charged. These measures saw poor response and further damaged pilot and employee moraleespecially in a year when airline executives took home record increments approaching or exceeding 100%, while simultaneously blaming pilot migration instead of investing in retention and workplace improvements, FIP said. DGCA investigates Indigo as flight cancellations spike to 1,232 in November 'End Indigo Standard Time, shift to true IST' The fog season in winter demands higher pilot availability and IndiGo expanded its winter schedule without recruiting or training additional pilots, raising serious questions about operational responsibility, the association charged. Captain Randhawa alleged, There are growing concerns that flight delays and cancellations may be used as an 'immature pressure tactic' to arm-twist regulators whenever rules do not suit airlines, instead of engaging in introspection and constructive compliancereverting yet again to the outdated narrative of 'Blame the Pilots'. FIP strongly advocated that the DGCA must approve seasonal flight schedules only after airlines prove they have adequate pilot strength under the new Flight Duty Time Limit norms to operate safely and reliably. If IndiGo continues to fail in delivering on its commitments to passengers due to its own avoidable staffing shortages, FIP urges DGCA to consider re-evaluating and reallocating slots to airlines such as Air India, Akasa Air and others who have the capacity to operate them without disruption during the peak holiday and fog season, FIP said. 'IndiGo Standard Time has increasingly become synonymous with delays and cancellations and it is time for the airline to return to Indian Standard Time, the association charged. Indigo cancels over 200 flights in single day due to 'crew shortage'; passengers react angrily Indigo cancels over 200 flights in single day due to 'crew shortage'; 'shut down,' say enraged passengers