Pilot duty rules make aviation uncompetitive: IndiGo MD Rahul Bhatia

IndiGo's Rahul Bhatia urged the government to review pilot duty time rules, saying they raise airline costs and make Indian aviation less competitive

IndiGo Managing Director Rahul Bhatia has called for a review of India’s pilot flight duty time rules, saying these norms erode cockpit productivity, inflate airline costs and make the country’s aviation sector “uncompetitive” compared with global peers. 

“I think Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) needs a review, and I think there's enough conversation going on with the government. All we want to do is appeal to the government that we must follow the global best practices,” Bhatia told PTI in an interview. 

These remarks are one of the airline’s strongest public criticisms of the revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms, which came into force in November 2025 and contributed to widespread flight disruptions at IndiGo during last year’s peak travel season.

 

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) implemented the revised FDTL norms in phases last year to reduce pilot fatigue.

The rules increased mandatory weekly rest from 36 hours to 48 hours, capped night flying by limiting night duty and the number of night landings, and revised duty period calculations to account for circadian rhythm and fatigue. Airlines had argued the changes would require more pilots and increase operating costs, while pilot associations backed the norms as a long-pending safety measure. 

“We were in the eye of the storm” during the implementation of the new rules,” Bhatia said. “So when you come up with a policy where the productivity in the cockpit diminishes to the extent it has, it makes Indian aviation uncompetitive,” he said. “It directly impacts the cost structure.” Bhatia said and added that airlines were not arguing for lower safety standards but for regulations aligned with international practices.  

He also urged the government to cut taxes and rationalise airport charges, arguing that lower airfares would unlock “massive” demand in one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets and accusing policymakers of taxing flying as if it were “an elitist mode of transport”. “On the one side, we say that flying by air has become a public utility, yet we treat taxes on it as if it’s an elitist mode of transport,” Bhatia said. 

“I think some of these things have to get rationalised. Because the Indian consumer is so price sensitive that if you can lower fares, you just open up a massive demand." Bhatia said airlines had largely absorbed cost pressures instead of passing them on to passengers.