Within hours of the nationwide disruption, the Ministry of Civil Aviation rolled back two key provisions of India’s recently introduced night-duty regulations for pilots—rules that had extended mandatory rest from 10 to 12 hours and capped consecutive night sectors. The suspension is exclusive to IndiGo and lasts until 10 February 2026.
In a parallel move, the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation authorised 12 Flight Operations Inspectors—on secondment from IndiGo—to return temporarily to line-flying duties and extended the validity of Designated Examiner checks. The regulator also allowed simulator instructors from other Approved Training Organisations to conduct IndiGo pilot checks, unblocking a training bottleneck.
![Government Suspends New Pilot-Rest Rules, Grants DGCA Exemptions to Rescue IndiGo]()
Aviation unions criticised the carve-out, arguing it prioritises punctuality over fatigue management. The ministry countered that exemptions are tightly time-bound and safety-audited. However, the episode exposes a structural weakness: India will need 7,500 additional pilots by 2030, but current training capacity produces barely 1,200 annually.
For employers running in-house travel desks, immediate implications include potential crew-related delays on flights operated by DGCA inspectors (typically senior captains). Duty-of-care teams should monitor any extension of the waiver and adjust risk assessments accordingly. Longer term, corporates may advocate for staggered regulatory roll-outs to avoid future shockwaves in the travel ecosystem.
The crisis also rekindles debate on whether India should adopt a phased, data-driven fatigue-risk-management system—similar to Australia’s CASA model—rather than one-size-fits-all prescriptive limits.
In a parallel move, the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation authorised 12 Flight Operations Inspectors—on secondment from IndiGo—to return temporarily to line-flying duties and extended the validity of Designated Examiner checks. The regulator also allowed simulator instructors from other Approved Training Organisations to conduct IndiGo pilot checks, unblocking a training bottleneck.
Aviation unions criticised the carve-out, arguing it prioritises punctuality over fatigue management. The ministry countered that exemptions are tightly time-bound and safety-audited. However, the episode exposes a structural weakness: India will need 7,500 additional pilots by 2030, but current training capacity produces barely 1,200 annually.
For employers running in-house travel desks, immediate implications include potential crew-related delays on flights operated by DGCA inspectors (typically senior captains). Duty-of-care teams should monitor any extension of the waiver and adjust risk assessments accordingly. Longer term, corporates may advocate for staggered regulatory roll-outs to avoid future shockwaves in the travel ecosystem.
The crisis also rekindles debate on whether India should adopt a phased, data-driven fatigue-risk-management system—similar to Australia’s CASA model—rather than one-size-fits-all prescriptive limits.
