India’s largest airline, IndiGo, has now lifted the hiring freeze imposed on pilots as a response to the recent spikes in flight cancellations and has officially lifted this restriction on hiring, indicating that it is attempting to stabilize its operations. Last week, thousands of passengers were affected by the abrupt surge of cancellations. The spike was caused by recently implemented regulations related to pilot rest periods that restricted the total pilot pool available for duty. Fortunately, those regulations have now been changed, allowing IndiGo to hire again and plan for more effective operations.
Indigo: Recruitment for A320 Pilots Resumes
IndiGo has posted numerous notifications to its website on Friday as well as Saturday that the airline is accepting applications from captains & senior first officers who hold a type rating for the airline’s A320 fleet of aircraft. After nine weeks of having an increasing number of operational challenges and an increasing number of cancelled flights, it has decided to recommence hiring.
Reasons for the Hiring Freeze
During the hiring freeze, which lasted several months, the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) was critical of the situation. According to FIP, IndiGo should have had foresight about the new Flight Time Duty Limitations (FTDL) introduced by the Ministry of Civil Aviation. The new regulations meant that IndiGo needed to hire more pilots than it currently had available, which led to many delays and cancellations due to a lack of qualified personnel.
IndiGo: Steps for RECOVERING Normal Operations
IndiGo has now started recruiting from the ground up; with the process of getting started with recruitment now underway, IndiGo will stabilize its flight operations, regain passenger confidence, and recruit new pilots, thereby allowing them to return the business to normal operation. In the meantime, expert industry analysts have stated that once new pilots are onboard, the reduction of flight disruptions will continue to occur in the subsequent weeks.
A Relief for Passengers
This is good news for travelers. The increased hiring for pilot positions means that there will be more flights available with less disruption to travel plans and more reliable travel throughout India. Though it will take time for operations to become completely stable, travelers can expect to have a much more dependable flying experience on IndiGo Airlines.
