ALPA India Urges Civil Aviation Ministry & CCI To Expedite Investigations Into Cadet Pricing & Inter-Airline Hiring Practices

Mumbai: The Airline Pilots’ Association of India (ALPA India) has hit back sharply at recent public comments made by IndiGo Managing Director Rahul Bhatia, rejecting claims that India’s safety rules on pilot fatigue are behind the country’s ongoing pilot shortage and airlines’ growing reliance on expensive foreign captains.

​Speaking out after Bhatia cited reduced cockpit productivity and escalating costs under the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s (DGCA) Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) regulations, the pilots' body argued that the crisis is entirely self-inflicted. In a detailed statement released on Wednesday, ALPA India laid the blame on three deep-seated anti-competitive practices, including predatory cadet training costs, an alleged non-poaching agreement between the nation's two dominant carriers and wage suppression.

​According to ALPA India, these structural bottlenecks – which have already been formally flagged to the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and the regulator over the last 18 months – are artificially stifling the local pilot pipeline while forcing carriers to look abroad for crew.

​At the heart of the pilots' grievance is the soaring cost of entry into civil aviation. ALPA India noted that airline-run Cadet Pilot Programmes charge aspiring trainees between £55,000 and £115,000 (Rs 60 lakh to Rs 1.25 crore), compared to an open-market type-rating cost that rarely exceeds £18,000 internationally.

​Despite these steep fees, candidates are offered no job guarantees, face minimum three-year bonding clauses and are left with no financial protection if a carrier fails – as seen during the collapses of Kingfisher, Jet Airways, and Go First. The union highlighted that while the DGCA has routinely enforced six-to-twelve-month notice periods on pilots, its grievance portal dismissed ALPA India’s complaint regarding training costs, stating the matter fell "outside the purview of DGCA." This selective oversight, ALPA India argued, has turned flying into a profession gated by financial privilege rather than merit.

​Beyond entry barriers, the association pointed to an internal market freeze within India's virtual airline duopoly. In submissions sent to MoCA in February 2025, ALPA India cited credible reports of a tacit understanding between Air India and IndiGo – which together command the vast majority of domestic capacity – not to recruit each other's flight crew.

​The pilots’ union cautioned that such an arrangement violates a citizen's fundamental right to seek employment under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution and warrants urgent scrutiny by the Competition Commission of India (CCI).

​Combined with mandatory six-month notice periods and non-objection certificates (NOCs) that are routinely withheld, this lack of inter-airline mobility has created a system where wage competition is virtually non-existent. The union argued that pilots capable of securing market-rate pay elsewhere are denied leverage domestically, leaving airlines to claim an inability to attract local talent as a pretext for hiring pricier expatriate captains under wet-lease arrangements.

​​ALPA India rejected the notion that the safety rules governing flight duty times should be rolled back to make Indian carriers "globally competitive." The current rest limits, the union stressed, represent an established safety floor validated by the DGCA.

​Data underscores the structural nature of the gap that between 2020 and 2024, India issued roughly 5,700 Commercial Pilot Licences against a projected decade-long requirement of 25,000 to 30,000 pilots. A Parliamentary Standing Committee previously characterised this shortfall as a "systemic structural deficit" rather than a mere licensing speed bump.

​IndiGo’s own manpower filings with the DGCA indicate a need for around 900 additional pilots through 2026. However, ALPA India maintains that bringing in foreign commanders to meet FDTL timelines is proof of a distorted market, not over-regulation.

​Rather than simply resisting regulatory changes, ALPA India highlighted its collaborative work with the DGCA on a comprehensive white paper. The proposal outlines several evidence-based reforms intended to genuinely streamline pilot supply without compromising flight safety, including streamlined licensing, ​fast-track endorsements, fairer rules in cadet training fees, capping bond terms, shortening notice periods and cross-utilisation framework across airlines leveraging existing eGCA logbook data.

​Calling on both the Ministry of Civil Aviation and the CCI to expedite investigations into cadet pricing and inter-airline hiring practices, ALPA India urged airline leadership to address internal market failures rather than attempt to dismantle safety regulations designed to protect passengers and crew alike.