Pilots' fatigue issue needs considerate, holistic approach: IndiGo CEO

Amid rising concerns over fatigue among pilots, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers on Monday said the issue needs a "very considerate, holistic and in-depth approach".

In recent times, the issue of fatigue among pilots has come to the fore, especially after the death of an IndiGo pilot, who had collapsed at the boarding gate of Nagpur airport.

During an interaction with reporters here on Monday, Elbers said the airline has introduced a tool to analyse fatigue among pilots.

"The best way to improve safety is to work in a transparent measure... We are taking the feedback (on pilots' fatigue) seriously".

"... We will take international experience, what is the framework for working hours in EU, the US... how does it compare to the Indian framework," he said in response to queries about the issue of fatigue among pilots.

In September, IndiGo announced its partnership with the Thales Group as an early adopter of its fatigue analysis tool. The airline will conduct a proof of concept trial for its technology-driven interface to assess pilot alertness levels over the next few months, it said.

"Topics like these require a very considerate, holistic and in-depth approach...," he said about the pilots' fatigue issue.

IndiGo is the country's largest airline and had a domestic market share of 63.4 per cent in September, as per the latest official data.

Recently, aviation regulator DGCA proposed various changes to norms governing duty timings of flight crew, including more rest time for pilots, amid concerns over fatigue.

To a query about air ticket prices, Elbers said airfares are driven mostly by seasonal fluctuations. "Normal course of seasonality remains the key driver of airfares," he noted.

In recent times, there has been an increase in airfares amid rising crude oil prices and higher demand.

Pieter Elbers in a media round table interaction at the new IndiGo office in Gurugram also revealed that the airline is considering entry into the US and European markets in the near future. 
 

The airline, which already operates a substantial number of international routes, is contemplating expanding its horizons.

When asked about the possibility of launching direct flights to the US and Europe, CEO Peter Elbert responded, "We are not ruling out anything in the future. We are operating several international routes with the country's biggest fleet size."

At present, IndiGo has multiple codeshare agreements in place for the US network and European routes, which is a strong indicator of the airline's growing interest in these markets.