The country’s largest airline IndiGo has increased its crew buffer to 3% from zero in December to 3%. The pilot-to-aircraft ratio has also been strengthened. After these reforms, senior government officials are hopeful that there will be minimal disruption to flights despite the temporary relaxation given on pilot duty and rest rules (FDTL) ending on February 10.
The country saw Indigo crisis in December
- In December, IndiGo’s operational system had collapsed due to violation of FDTL standards.
- During that period the airline had to cancel more than 5,000 flights and aviation regulator Digicity had imposed a record fine of Rs 22.2 crore.
- To handle the situation, the Delhi Police had on December 6 given temporary relaxation in the rules related to night duty till February 10.
Number of pilot crew sets per aircraft increased
According to government sources, now the airline has improved the rostering plans and increased the number of pilot crew sets per aircraft. The February roster has reached an average of 7.2 crew sets per aircraft, up from 7.1 in January. At the time of the December crisis this number was less than six. Crew set refers to the number of full pilot teams available for each aircraft.
A senior official said that while the crew buffer was zero in December 2025, it has increased to 3% in February, while the minimum limit of standby crew has been increased to 15%. This has increased the capacity to handle flights in case of illness, unexpected leave or schedule disruption.
Calculation of these data is necessary in the context of new FDTL rules.
However, aviation experts say that it is necessary to assess these figures in the context of the new FDTL rules. According to expert Captain Mohan Ranganathan, it is mandatory to have at least seven crew sets per aircraft for smooth operations. If the data given to DGCA is in fact consistent with the aircraft actually flying, then there would be no possibility of disruption.
What do government figures say?
- According to government data, as of December 8, 2025, IndiGo had 5,085 pilots and about 350 active aircraft.
- The airline appointed 100 trainee first officers in January and plans regular training in the coming months.
- At the same time, resignations and retirements of some pilots are also expected in the next six months.
What came to light in the ministry’s review?
The ministry’s review also found that flight cancellations in January were mainly due to bad weather, airspace restrictions and other operational reasons, and not due to violation of pilot duty rules. Between January 15 and 31, IndiGo operated almost 90% of its scheduled services and a total of 284 flights were cancelled.
CS Randhawa, president of the Federation of Indian Pilots, said that IndiGo has enough pilots as per the current operational fleet and there does not seem to be any major reason for cancellation of flights after the February 10 deadline.
