How IndiGo became Indi(Won’t)Go

India Today

IndiGo runs most of India’s skies, so when it hit pause this week, the whole system shook.

Transcript

00:00Indi Go!

00:03Indi Won't Go Airline just hired Teju Bhaiya as a pilot already.

00:09Welcome aboard Indi Go, India's on-time airline,

00:12currently powered by delays, cancellations and sheer optimism.

00:16How did we go from Indi Go to Indi Won't Go?

00:20Indi No Go?

00:22Alright, let's keep that.

00:23In the first week of December, the airline that runs around 60% of India's domestic flights basically hit pause.

00:33From early December, Indi Go cancelled over 1200 flights.

00:36Its on-time performance dropped from 84% in October to 67% in November.

00:45Some days it dropped up to 200 flights like they were coriander.

00:47Airports turned into dormitories.

00:49Fares on surviving flights jumped 20-30%.

00:52Passengers discovered what indefinite delay actually feels like.

00:55This kind of behaviour is not acceptable at any level.

00:58I mean, forget about here.

00:59So, what went wrong?

01:01Officially, a perfect storm.

01:036% more winter flights than last year.

01:05Fog in the north, like that's new.

01:07A rushed Airbus A320 software update.

01:10A few minor tech glitches.

01:12And a big villain of the week.

01:13New flight duty time limit rules.

01:16Those FDTL rules are outrageous, obviously.

01:19They say pilots should rest 48 hours a week instead of 36.

01:23Work about 10-11 hours a day instead of 13.

01:26Put only 2 night landings a week instead of 6.

01:29And get rosters frozen 15 days in advance.

01:32In other words, DGCF finally admitted pilots are human beings.

01:35They're not power banks.

01:36These changes need 10-20% more crew or smarter planning.

01:40Airlines had 2 years notice.

01:422 years.

01:43And yet the rules hit on 1st November.

01:45Fog rolled in.

01:46And Indigo behaved like the student who just found out exams are tomorrow.

01:50Why not just hire more pilots?

01:52Because India produces only about 1,200 to 1,500 commercial pilots a year.

01:56And many are not airline ready on day one.

01:58And if you believe pilot bodies, Indigo and others try to hack the system with

02:03Hiring freezes, low poaching packs, lean man power, maximum utilization.

02:07The Federation of Indian Pilots calls it carton-like.

02:10The Airline Pilots Association is openly asking what Indigo's management and DGCA were doing while the clock ticked.

02:16I have started a new company that I don't have a lot of employees and a lot of the work is dependent on me.

02:22I am essentially stuck here with no sort of idea as to how to go back home.

02:28Yes, this is a system problem.

02:30Infrastructure, training, regulators, all of it.

02:32But when you control most of the market and choose razor-thin staffing, your private cost-cutting becomes a public crisis.

02:38Indigo did not create fog.

02:40It did not write FDTL.

02:41It did not invent pilot shortages.

02:43What it did was gamble that you can run a 300 million passenger future on skeleton cruise and good weather.

02:50This week is what that gamble looks like.

02:53I am Manisha Dikari.

02:55First things fast.

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