IndiGo to hire over 1,000 pilots amid fleet ramp-up, rebuilds cockpit strength

• IndiGo plans to hire over 1,000 pilots in one of India's largest recruitment drives.
• The move follows December's operational disruption, where 5,000+ flights were cancelled due to crew shortage after new rest rules.
• Recruitment spans trainee first officers, senior first officers, and captains, including pilots without Airbus A320 experience.
• DGCA investigation found IndiGo hadn't hired adequately for new rules, leading to stretched pilots and compromised operational resilience.
• IndiGo is restructuring its network with higher schedule buffers (3% in Feb) and increased standby crew (15%) to avoid future disruptions.