IndiGo Cancels Hundreds of Flights Due to Pilot Shortage

India’s largest airline, IndiGo, has cancelled over 300 flights and delayed hundreds more in the past two days. This disruption is due to a growing pilot shortage following the enforcement of new flight duty time limitation (FDTL) rules, according to aviation industry sources on Wednesday.

The airline operates over 2,300 flights daily,meaning nearly 7% of its services have been cancelled in the last 48 hours.

IndiGo’s on-time performance dropped to 35% on Tuesday, according to data from the Ministry of Civil Aviation. In a statement Wednesday evening, the airline said it’s making “calibrated adjustments” to its schedule – effectively cancelling some flights – over the next two days to return to normal operations.

The airline spokesperson said the cancellations and delays were caused by minor issues, bad weather, airport congestion, and the new FDTL rules.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said Wednesday evening that IndiGo cancelled 1,232 flights last month, with 61% of those cancellations linked to FDTL issues.The DGCA has asked IndiGo to report to its headquarters to explain the situation and share plans to reduce delays and cancellations.

The regulator added that it’s investigating and working with the airline to find solutions.

Industry sources reported that at least 38 IndiGo flights,both domestic and international,were cancelled at Delhi airport between midnight and 5 pm on wednesday. At Mumbai airport, at least 33 flights were cancelled during the same period.

In total, over 300 flights have been cancelled across the country on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s (DGCA’s) revised FDTL rules fully went into effect on November 1.