Big expansion, small team: IndiGo expanded by 200 flights a day but hired only 418 pilots
IndiGo added 200 daily flights this year, but it added just 418 pilots to its roster in FY25, the lowest increase since FY20
- Dec 8, 2025,
- Updated Dec 8, 2025 11:45 AM IST
India’s biggest airline by market share, IndiGo, which is reeling from record cancellations of flights due to a shortage of pilots was on a capacity expansion spree, crossing over 2,300 daily flights in November this year, almost at the same time as the flight duty time limitation (FDTL) rules for pilots came into effect. But it had the lowest addition of pilot strength in FY25 since FY20.
The cancellation of flights has thrown the aviation industry into chaos, with passengers being stranded at airports, unable to reschedule their travel.
IndiGo’s pilot strength addition in FY25 was 418, taking the total to 5,456 pilots against 631 in FY24, with a total pilot strength of 5,038, as per IndiGo’s official data.
While the capacity addition during FY25 was the largest, the pilot addition remained the lowest. The increase in pilot strength was 616 till FY23. The highest pilot addition was 830 till FY20, just before Covid-19 hit, impacting air travel.
In 2025, IndiGo announced direct connectivity on international routes, including London, Manchester, Amsterdam and Athens, while increasing existing capacity on many international sectors. Several new sectors were also added on domestic routes.
The airline, in its response to the DGCA, has accepted its failure to address the crew shortage with the Pilot in Command requirement of 2,422 against the availability of 2,357 for Airbus. In November, IndiGo advertised for a recruitment drive of senior captains for Airbus operations.
The alleviate some of the pain, the DGCA has provided the airline relaxation till February 10, 2026. However, as per analysts’ assessment, the airline would need another 1,000 pilots in the next two months to comply with the FDTL norms, which have been in discussion since late 2023. This would be a challenging task.
There are few immediate options available to the airplane, even if it were to look at increasing pilot strength in the short term. Poaching pilots from other airlines would not provide any immediate relief since there are long notice periods of 12 months for pilots and six months for co-pilots. Both Air India and Akasa have surplus pilots, due to the grounding of aircraft, with supply chain shortages and delays in the delivery of aircraft on order.
IndiGo has said that it is cutting down operations by 300-400 flights to meet the crew requirement under the new norm, which cuts down night landings from six to two between midnight and 6 am. The airlines kept pushing the norms on the pretext of crew shortage.
The country’s largest airline, with almost 65% market share, saw a complete breakdown in the last few days, with hundreds of flights cancelled.
To support the company’s ambitious growth plans as it moves towards becoming a 600+ aircraft airline by the end of this decade, it has a programme called the Cadet Pilot initiative, which now includes partnerships with nine aviation academies providing a steady pipeline of skilled pilots.
India’s biggest airline by market share, IndiGo, which is reeling from record cancellations of flights due to a shortage of pilots was on a capacity expansion spree, crossing over 2,300 daily flights in November this year, almost at the same time as the flight duty time limitation (FDTL) rules for pilots came into effect. But it had the lowest addition of pilot strength in FY25 since FY20.
The cancellation of flights has thrown the aviation industry into chaos, with passengers being stranded at airports, unable to reschedule their travel.
IndiGo’s pilot strength addition in FY25 was 418, taking the total to 5,456 pilots against 631 in FY24, with a total pilot strength of 5,038, as per IndiGo’s official data.
While the capacity addition during FY25 was the largest, the pilot addition remained the lowest. The increase in pilot strength was 616 till FY23. The highest pilot addition was 830 till FY20, just before Covid-19 hit, impacting air travel.
In 2025, IndiGo announced direct connectivity on international routes, including London, Manchester, Amsterdam and Athens, while increasing existing capacity on many international sectors. Several new sectors were also added on domestic routes.
The airline, in its response to the DGCA, has accepted its failure to address the crew shortage with the Pilot in Command requirement of 2,422 against the availability of 2,357 for Airbus. In November, IndiGo advertised for a recruitment drive of senior captains for Airbus operations.
The alleviate some of the pain, the DGCA has provided the airline relaxation till February 10, 2026. However, as per analysts’ assessment, the airline would need another 1,000 pilots in the next two months to comply with the FDTL norms, which have been in discussion since late 2023. This would be a challenging task.
There are few immediate options available to the airplane, even if it were to look at increasing pilot strength in the short term. Poaching pilots from other airlines would not provide any immediate relief since there are long notice periods of 12 months for pilots and six months for co-pilots. Both Air India and Akasa have surplus pilots, due to the grounding of aircraft, with supply chain shortages and delays in the delivery of aircraft on order.
IndiGo has said that it is cutting down operations by 300-400 flights to meet the crew requirement under the new norm, which cuts down night landings from six to two between midnight and 6 am. The airlines kept pushing the norms on the pretext of crew shortage.
The country’s largest airline, with almost 65% market share, saw a complete breakdown in the last few days, with hundreds of flights cancelled.
To support the company’s ambitious growth plans as it moves towards becoming a 600+ aircraft airline by the end of this decade, it has a programme called the Cadet Pilot initiative, which now includes partnerships with nine aviation academies providing a steady pipeline of skilled pilots.