Mumbai: Several senior expat pilots of IndiGo (InterGlobe Aviation Ltd) have left the carrier in the last few months, prompting India’s largest domestic carrier to hire new ones amid a spate of flight cancellations. As of 15 December 2018, the number of expat pilots at IndiGo stood at 93, among a total 324 expat pilots at all commercial airlines, minister of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha told Parliament last month.
IndiGo currently has 40 senior expat pilots in a flying crew that consists of 1,260 captains, a senior official of the airline said.
IndiGo has had to cancel a large number of flights over the past few days because of pilot shortage, apart from the partial closedown of the Bengaluru airport due to Aero India 2019, runway closure at Mumbai airport for six hours on alternate days and bad weather, according to industry officials.
