The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has significantly relaxed the rules related to crew rest with immediate effect, amid huge chaos that continues for the third consecutive day in the country’s largest budget airline IndiGo. This step was taken after IndiGo canceled more than 700 flights on Friday (December 5) and there was crowding and chaos of passengers at major airports across the country. DGCA has withdrawn the provision which said that leave of crew or pilot cannot be counted as weekly rest. This rule was part of the new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL), due to which airlines were facing great difficulties in preparing rosters.
DGCA said in its order that this provision has been withdrawn following the demand from many airlines to ensure continuity and stability of operations. The regulator clarified that “the direction that leave of any kind shall not be considered as a substitute for weekly rest is withdrawn with immediate effect.” This relaxation will be applicable to all airlines, but it is likely to provide the most relief to IndiGo, which has been facing severe shortage of crew in the last few days.
After the implementation of the new FDTL rules, there was disruption in the schedules of a large number of pilots and crew, which seriously impacted IndiGo’s operations. IndiGo airline accounts for over 60% of the domestic air traffic and has canceled or delayed hundreds of flights in the last few days, causing inconvenience to thousands of passengers.
The government and DGCA are hopeful that this partial relaxation in crew rest rules will give additional roster flexibility to airlines and the situation will start improving in the next few days.
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