IndiGo Crisis Puts Spotlight On Pilot-To-Aircraft Ratio: How Are Airlines Staffed Compared To Fleet Size?

India’s largest airline, IndiGo, which is currently facing massive disruptions in flight operations, appears relatively understaffed compared to other major global carriers. A new report by Statista has highlighted that the pilot-to-aircraft ratio at IndiGo is around 14 pilots per plane. By comparison, other global airlines have around 20 pilots per aircraft.

IndiGo operates around 2,000 flights daily and has nearly 5,100 pilots employed, the report added. In the first week of December, the airline was forced to cancel over 2,000 flights due to crew shortages. This followed the implementation of new flight duty norms by the central government, which required airlines to cut down on night duties and total flight hours for crew.

This triggered a major disruption in IndiGo’s operations, affecting thousands of passengers across the country. To stabilise the operations, the government relaxed certain provisions of the new rules temporarily and reassigned IndiGo's 10% operations to other carriers.

“Looking at the size of their active fleets (data from Planespotters.net), the pilot-to-aircraft ratio of IndiGo (14 pilots per commercial plane in service) appears slightly lower than that of Air India Express (15) and much lower than its parent company, Air India (36), which currently operates about half as many planes,” Statista report explained, citing 2025 or more recent available data.

It noted that other popular airlines such as United Airlines, China Southern, and Delta operate with 18–19 pilots per aircraft, while Lufthansa, Ryanair, and Air France have 20–23 pilots per aircraft. This indicates that IndiGo is managing a large fleet with a comparatively smaller number of pilots.

On the incident, Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu blamed IndiGo for “mismanagement regarding their crew”, adding that other airlines were prepared for the changes.

Notably, IndiGo commands nearly 63% of India’s aviation market, while its closest rival, Air India, holds a 27% share. This means that Air India, which has a 15 pilots-per-aircraft ratio, is in a better position to handle operations.

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