DGCA Grants IndiGo Temporary Break on Pilot Night-Duty Rules Amid Travel Chaos

New Delhi, December 05, 2025: In a move aimed at immediately stabilising India’s air travel network, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has granted IndiGo, the country’s largest airline, a temporary, one-time exemption from certain pilot duty-time limits related to night operations. This decision follows a severe wave of flight cancellations and delays across the IndiGo network, which has been struggling with crew shortages after the recent implementation of stricter fatigue-management rules.

The Immediate Cause: New FDTL Rules

The operational crisis at IndiGo—which saw hundreds of flights cancelled in a matter of days—stems primarily from the rollout of Phase II of the revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms. These rules, which became fully effective on November 1, 2025, were designed to enhance safety by addressing pilot fatigue. Key changes included:

• Increasing the mandatory weekly rest period for pilots from 36 hours to 48 hours.
• Restricting night operations, including a stricter definition of “night hours” and limiting the number of landings a pilot can perform during this period.

IndiGo admitted to the DGCA that it had misjudged the actual crew requirement under these new, tighter regulations, leading to an unexpected shortage, especially for night-time flights where most available slots now fall.

The DGCA’s Temporary Relief

To immediately reduce passenger inconvenience and restore operational stability, the DGCA has provided IndiGo with a partial waiver for its Airbus A320 fleet. This temporary relief is valid until February 10, 2026.

The exemption allows the airline to operate with relaxed restrictions on:

• Night Duty Timings: Relaxing the definition of night duty hours.
• Night Operations: Easing the limits on operations that extend into or encroach upon night duty time, potentially allowing more night-time landings than the new rules originally permitted.

In addition to this, the DGCA has provided all airlines with a separate, industry-wide relief: withdrawing the previous instruction that prevented airlines from counting a pilot’s leave (casual, sick, or earned) as part of their weekly rest. This change gives all carriers, particularly IndiGo, greater flexibility in managing crew rosters.

Conditions and Concerns

The exemption is not unconditional. The DGCA has put the onus on IndiGo to strictly maintain all safety margins and has mandated the following:

• Roadmap Submission: IndiGo must submit a detailed plan within 30 days outlining how it will achieve full FDTL compliance, including accelerated crew recruitment, training, and roster restructuring.
• Fortnightly Reports: The airline must provide progress reports every 15 days on crew utilisation and operational improvements.
• Safety Clause: The DGCA retains the power to revoke the exemption immediately if safety is compromised.

The move has drawn strong objections from the Airline Pilots’ Association of India (ALPA India), which argues that granting “selective and unsafe” exemptions undermines the very purpose of the fatigue rules and compromises passenger safety. The association claims the crisis was a result of the airline’s poor planning and inadequate staffing, not the rules themselves.

IndiGo has assured the regulator that stable operations will be fully restored by February 10, 2026, as it works to fix the “misjudgement and planning gaps” that led to the widespread disruption.