IndiGo crisis: DGCA eases norms to help flyers, pilots rest days revised
The DGCA stepped in to help stranded flers impacted by the recent IndiGo crisis. After hundreds of flights were cancelled by the airlines, due to unavailability of pilots, due to new rostering norms, the aviation regulator said that a pilots leave will also be counted as rest. Earlier the regulator had increased the rest period from 36 hours to 48 hours. This led to staff shortage, along with other norms which came into force in the country, regarding flying.
New Delhi: As hundreds of flights were cancelled by IndiGo, the government stepped in to help ease the situation. The aviation regulator has now withdrawn one part of its Flight Duty Time Limitations rules, which said that 'no leave will be substituted for weekly rest.' This is an attempt to resolve the crisis that hit India's largest carrier, IndiGo.
Leave of pilot to be counted as rest day
According to the aviation regulator, the partial relaxation in norms is that now the pilots' leave will also be counted as rest day. The DGCA's new duty norms for pilots have caused the current chaos. These new norms grant longer rest periods for pilots, hence reducing pilot's availability to fly.
The new norms had increased the rest period from 36 hours to 48 hours. The number of night landings had been capped to 2 per week, instead of the earlier 6 per week and the night duty window has been extended by 1 hour, from 12 am to 6 am, instead of the earlier 5 am. Also now pilots can only have 2 night shifts in a row, not more than that. The new norms also give 24 hours of rest to the pilot after long flights, like those between India and Canada or India and US.
Now the government has relaxed the rest norms and is counting the pilots off day also as rest. Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu briefed Union Home Minister, Amit Shah regarding the IndiGo crisis.
Ticket prices soar
Meanwhile the impact of the IndiGo flight cancellations was visible for yet another day. Thousands of flyers were stranded at airports across India, as several IndiGo airlines flights were cancelled throughout the day.
At the New Delhi Airport, all IndiGo flights remained cancelled at midnight on Friday. Other metropolitan cities also saw cancellations. While 102 flights from Bengaluru were cancelled, the number at Mumbai airport was 104. Hyderabad saw 92 IndiGo flight cancellations and Chennai, 31.
Meanwhile, the fares for the flights have soared multifold. Between Delhi and Mumbai, which is considered to be one of the busiest routes in the country, return flights now cost Rs 60,000. This cost is for the economy class. For one-way travel the current price is Rs 35,000. On normal days, the cost would come to Rs 20,000 for a round trip, that too if the flight is booked at the last moment.
IndiGo has cancelled 523 flights on Friday. This includes all its flights from the Delhi Airport. Anyone who wishes to travel will have to pay extra and make do with tickets of other airlines, even if they have an IndiGo ticket.
DGCA pilots to fly IndiGo planes
Meanwhile, the DGCA has taken another step to ease the IndiGo crisis. According to a report in the Economic Times, the civol aviation regulator has asked its inspectors to operate flights for IndiGo.
One must note that the DGCA hires pilots on contract basis for 5 years. These pilots act as auditors and are not supposed to operate flights for any airlines. But given the present crisis that IndiGo is under, the norm has been relaxed.