- By Aditya Jha
- Tue, 09 Dec 2025 06:32 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
IndiGo Crisis: Amid an ongoing IndiGo crisis, former AirAsia India CFO Vijay Gopalan stated that the recently introduced Flight Duty Time Limit (FDTL) regulations are the major contributor to the situation. While answering some of the most asked questions on social media, Gopalan stated that the regulations have added rest hours for the pilots and the crews, leading to a shortage of the employees. However, he emphasised that the situation could have been dealt with better by the airline if the key decisions had been taken on time. IndiGo has been facing a massive backlash from the passengers in the past few days due to the cancellation of hundreds of flights at the key airports.
'IndiGo Faced Shortage Of Pilots'
Gopalan stated that the airline faced a shortage of pilots due to the changes introduced after the Air India crash in Ahmedabad in June. "If they say the previous rule was that they needed 36 hours of rest, now they say you need 48 hours of rest. This means the number of hours a pilot is available to fly is reduced. Unless you increase the number of pilots, the number of pilots available to fly all your aircraft, therefore, logically decreases," the former AirAsia India CFO stated.
"If you are a senior pilot, there is a mandatory notice period of 12 months. And if you are a co-pilot, the notice period is 6 months. So, you cannot hire people just like that," he added. However, he also asserted that the centre had informed IndiGo about the changes and the airline had a few months to change their roster; however, they took the matter lightly.
"This didn't happen all of a sudden. The government issued this notification well in advance in 2024, stating that this was going to happen," Gopalan stated. IndiGo has assured that the operations have been stabilised, adding that the refunds are being made to the troubled passengers.
