Where do we get captains from? AI, IndiGo locked in dogfight for pilots amid FDTL fallout; joining bonus up to Rs 50 lakh

NEW DELHI: Call it the IndiGo schedule collapse or its fallout impact. A clamour has broken out between the budget airline and Air India group over having adequate captains to avoid a repeat of what happened under the new safety-enhancing flight duty time limitation (FDTL) rules.

IndiGo has had to commit to DGCA about hiring pilots – it’ll induct 100 in Jan itself – and AI has already come out with an ad for getting more aviators on board. But both airlines are also facing a significant number of captain resignations – with some leaving one for the other and mostly for joining foreign carriers.