IndiGo is preparing one of its biggest cockpit hiring drives, with plans to recruit more than 1,000 pilots across multiple categories, as per a report by the Economic Times. The airline is working to boost manpower and avoid a repeat of the disruption it faced after new rest norms came into force. The plan follows a period in December when the airline cancelled over 5,000 flights in seven days because of crew shortages linked to the implementation of the updated rule.
IndiGo hiring plan
The recruitment exercise covers trainee first officers, senior first officers, and captains. The hiring notice also indicates the airline is open to taking in pilots without prior Airbus A320 experience, even though the A320 family forms the backbone of IndiGo’s fleet, as reported by the Economic Times.
What triggered the December cancellations?
The updated norms limited the number of landings a pilot can perform between 12 am and 6 am and raised weekly rest requirements. An investigation by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) found the airline had not recruited enough flights for the shift in rules and had not accelerated training sufficiently. As a result, pilots were stretched through frequent reassignment, extended “deadheading” and longer workdays traveling as passengers to operate flights from another location, as per the DGCA findings.
Training pipeline details
A senior officer stated to the Economic Times that IndiGo is building a pilot pipeline in line with its rapid aircraft induction. The airline, on average inducts around four aircraft a month and has an internal training system that upgrades about 20-25 first officers to captain each month, as mentioned in the report. Training is however time intensive, as trainee first officers usually require about six months before they become first officers, and first officers typically require at least 1,500 flying hours before they can be upgraded as captains.
The DGCA’s December review found out that IndiGo needed 2,422 captains but had 2,357 at the time, as per the carrier. After the crisis, the regulator granted temporary exemptions on certain night-duty restrictions until February 10, the report added.
Tax-related penalty on IndiGo
Meanwhile, IndiGo’s parent, InterGlobe Aviation, on Friday disclosed that it has received a demand order related to GST input tax credit, with interest and penalty totalling a little over Rs 1.27 crore for the period from July 2017 to March 2018, as reported by PTI. The company stated that it believes the order is erroneous, does not see a major financial impact, and will challenge it before the appropriate authority.