IndiGo will reportedly speed up the training and upgrading of its pilots following increased regulatory oversight following widespread flight cancellations in December. The airline, which had slowed the conversion of first officers to captains this year, now intends to return to its previous pace of upgrading 35 to 40 first officers every month starting in January.

According to a report by The Hindu Businessline, earlier, IndiGo regularly upgraded 35-40 first officers to captain positions monthly, but this year it was reduced to 10-12 per month due to cost-saving measures and aircraft landing. The slower pace of updates coincided with a temporary waiver of flight duty time regulations, with IndiGo now required to submit fortnightly reports to authorities on crew utilization and steps to improve availability.

According to a Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) press release, IndiGo needed 2,422 captains and 2,153 first officers as of November 25. As of that date, the airline was short 65 captains and is expected to have 2,357 captains on Dec. 25, according to the report.

Despite these shortfalls, IndiGo officials maintained that there is no shortage of pilots and attributed the recent disruptions to factors such as airport congestion and minor technical issues.

Meanwhile, a public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Delhi High Court seeking a directive that the Center and Indigo pay four times the full ticket price as compensation to passengers whose flights were canceled during November and December following the implementation of new service time limitation (FDTL) rules.

The PIL, filed by the Center for Accountability and Systemic Change (CASC) through its chairman Professor Vikram Singh, highlighted that the disruptions caused severe hardship to stranded passengers and raised concerns across the aviation sector.

The allegation, filed by lawyers Virag Gupta, Shourya Tiwari and Rupali Panwar, described overcrowded airports, misplaced luggage and confusion over refunds or booking changes. Passengers reportedly faced inadequate communication from airlines and uncertainty about compensation.