India travel chaos: Are pilots overworked compared to other countries?

6 days ago 6

Thousands of flights operated by India’s largest airline, IndiGo, person been cancelled successful the past week, disrupting aerial question during highest question play successful the world’s astir populous nation.

The chaos started past week owed to a aviator shortage aft the backstage bearer failed to accommodate to a caller authorities line connected the remainder and work hours of pilots.

What bash we cognize astir formation disruptions?

IndiGo, which operates 2,200 flights daily, has been forced to cancel astir 3,400 flights since December 2 successful the worst situation successful the carrier’s 20-year operation.

There were formation disruptions successful respective large cities, including New Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad, leaving thousands of passengers stranded astatine airports crossed the country.

The hose says its operations volition beryllium backmost to mean by December 15.

Given that IndiGo controls 65 percent marketplace share, the interaction connected question and summons prices was severe, forcing the authorities to intervene and adjacent contented a headdress connected home fares.

Together, Air India and IndiGo power 92 percent of the marketplace share. IndiGo is the lone hose that connects galore smaller cities and towns successful India, specified arsenic Shillong, Kolhapur, Prayagraj, Agra and Deogarh, giving it a monopoly connected those sectors.

On Friday, astir 1,600 flights were cancelled. A time later, much than 700 flights were cancelled, followed by immoderate 650 flights connected Sunday. More than 400 flights person been cancelled truthful acold connected Monday.

The disruptions person caused a immense outcry.

What are the caller guidelines connected aviator remainder and work hours?

Early successful 2024, the Indian authorities introduced caller Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) regulations to amended pilots’ moving hours, remainder periods, and fatigue absorption crossed Indian airlines. These rules reduced the maximum regular work hours and tightened remainder requirements, aligning much intimately with planetary fatigue‑risk norms.

The caller rules, which came into effect connected November 1, asked airlines to:

Increase pilots’ mandatory play remainder play from 36 to 48 hours. A pilot’s idiosyncratic permission request, however, cannot beryllium included nether the mandatory remainder period.
Cap pilots’ flying hours that proceed into the nighttime to 10 hours.
Cap the play fig of landings a aviator tin marque betwixt midnight and aboriginal greeting to two.
Submit pilots’ fatigue reports each 4th to India’s aviation regulator – the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

Aviation experts and aviator unions person blamed IndiGo for mediocre mentation and negligence successful adapting to the caller rules. Former AirAsia CFO Vijay Gopalan attributed the situation to IndiGo’s “very, precise lackadaisical, nonchalant attitude” towards adapting to the latest regulations.

“Despite the two-year preparatory model earlier afloat FDTL implementation, the hose inexplicably adopted a hiring freeze, entered non-poaching arrangements, maintained a aviator wage frost done cartel-like behaviour, and demonstrated different short-sighted readying practices,” the Federation of Indian Pilots told the Press Trust of India quality bureau connected December 4.

Why did India present Flight Duty Time Limitations?

The Indian civilian aviation authorities introduced the FDTL regulations to code aviator fatigue and information concerns, bringing them person to planetary standards.

These planetary standards are acceptable by bodies specified arsenic the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a United Nations bureau which sets planetary aviation standards and coordinates planetary aerial transport, and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

The caller regulations were introduced aft years of lobbying by aviator unions and associations successful India, including the Airline Pilots’ Association of India (ALPA), for updated fatigue rules. They raised concerns astir operational information risks and wellness impacts from long, irregular hours.

What is it similar to beryllium a aviator successful India?

Pawan*, a commercialized aviator with an Indian airline, told Al Jazeera connected information of anonymity, “You request to person completed astir 200 hours of formation clip done a grooming instauration earlier moving with an airline.”

As a child, Pawan lived successful a lodging nine with pilots, engineers and airdrome managers due to the fact that his begetter was besides a pilot. These factors inspired him to go a pilot.

He added that, dissimilar galore industries with yearly inflation‑linked raises, aviator salaries seldom increase, and benefits are mostly modular – unit formation tickets for family, constricted aesculapian security and compensation if a licence is mislaid owed to aesculapian reasons oregon death.

“From a batch of radical that I’ve interacted with successful the manufacture who’ve been present present 15 years adjacent to the company, they are saying things like, ‘I consciousness similar I’m earning the aforesaid happening I earned 10 years back, oregon possibly adjacent less,'” Pawan, who has been a aviator successful India for astir a decade, said.

Different websites person antithetic estimates for the mean wage earned by pilots successful India.

The New Delhi-based FMS Aviation Academy estimates that the yearly wage of caller Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) holders starts from 400,000 rupees ($4,400), arsenic of 2025.

According to the academy, the yearly wage of elder captains for commercialized airlines tin transcend 10 cardinal rupees ($120,000). Another New Delhi-based aviation school, We One Aviation, cites the aforesaid fig for the wage of elder captains.

The entry-level occupation is simply a inferior archetypal serviceman oregon cadet. After capable flying hours, 1 is promoted to go a senior. After much than 3,000 hours of flying, pilots instrumentality the Airline Transport Pilot Licence (ATPL) theoretical trial to go a captain, a presumption that allows them to instrumentality afloat work for the flight.

How does India comparison with the remainder of the world?

International bodies similar the ICAO bash not prescribe circumstantial limits to the fig of hours oregon fig of flights pilots tin safely run to debar fatigue. Different countries person antithetic regulations.

For example, the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) says pilots should get a minimum 48-hour interruption successful immoderate consecutive seven‑day period. Night work is capped astatine 9 to 10 hours. It does not authorities an explicit landing cap. In Australia, pilots tin gain astir 200,000 Australian dollars ($134,000) a year, and captains tin gain up to 400,000 Australian dollars ($268,000) a year, according to the Melbourne-based Holmes Aviation Institute.

According to Canadian Aviation Regulations, pilots indispensable get astatine slightest 36 consecutive hours disconnected during immoderate seven‑day play erstwhile they are operating from their mean location base. The nighttime work is constricted to 8 to 10 hours. There is nary ceremonial headdress connected nighttime landings. In Canada, pilots tin marque betwixt 38,000 Canadian dollars ($27,740) and 250,000 Canadian dollars ($182,500) a year, according to the Ontario-based institute, Flight Trainers.

The EASA sets the play remainder to a minimum of 36 hours, which tin beryllium reduced to 24 hours with compensation. The mean yearly salaries for hose pilots crossed 17 European countries scope from 32,299 euros ($35,000) successful Romania to 113,672 euros ($122,776) successful Switzerland arsenic of 2025, according to the ERI Economic Research Institute.

In the United States, formation unit members get 30 consecutive hours escaped from each work during a consecutive seven-day play of work. It caps the nighttime work to 9 to 10 hours. There is nary ceremonial headdress connected nighttime landings. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median wage for commercialized pilots successful 2024 was $198,100 per year.

*Name changed to support anonymity

Read Entire Article