The country’s largest airline IndiGo has assured the aviation regulator DGCA about the operational arrangements. The airline said all necessary operational, rostering and monitoring arrangements are being put in place for full compliance with the new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) rules. The temporary relaxation given on the new rules related to the duties of pilots ended on 10 February. After this, today DGCA issued a detailed statement and informed about the preparations of the airline.
Strictness after the chaos of December
Due to massive operational disruption in early December, IndiGo had canceled 2,507 flights between December 3 and 5. These flaws came to light in the investigation
- Excessive optimization of operations was found.
- A lack of regulatory preparation was found.
- Flaws were found in system software support.
- Deficiencies were found in the management and operational control framework.
Due to these reasons flight operations were affected. After this, DGCA had reduced the airline’s winter schedule by 10% and given limited relaxation till February 10 in implementing the new FDTL rules.
Full compliance allowed from 11th February
According to DGCA, IndiGo has informed that all the statutory provisions of the revised FDTL scheme (dated 9 October 2025) will be implemented from 11 February 2026. The exemptions were mainly related to pilots’ night duties and night landing times.
What factors are reviewed in the regulator
The regulator meanwhile said that during the validity period of the exemption, the airline’s flight operations were closely monitored through periodic review meetings and officials of the regulator were deployed at various airports to monitor the dealings with passengers and address inconveniences to passengers.
Additionally, Flight Operations Inspectors (FOIs) were deployed at IndiGo’s operations control center for real-time monitoring of flight operations to ensure continuous regulatory oversight during the relaxation period.
Adequate availability of pilots
On January 20, DGCA had said that the airline now has enough pilots to comply with the new rules.
- 2,400 Pilots-in-Command (Requirement: 2,280)
- 2,240 First Officers (Requirement: 2,050)
The airline operates approximately 2,200 flights daily. However, its domestic market share declined from 63.6% to 59.6% in December.
Airline fine and bank guarantee
DGCA imposed a total fine of ₹22.20 crore following the December incidents. Also directed to deposit bank guarantee of ₹50 crore and issued a warning to the senior management. Further, the regulatory body has issued a warning to IndiGo’s senior management for deficiencies in monitoring, planning and implementation of the revised FDTL norms, directed the removal of the concerned Senior Vice President from operational responsibilities, and directed the airline to take further action and submit a compliance report.
