Flydubai diversion puts the cost and limits of extra pilots in focus

Off-duty flydubai crew helped secure an aircraft after an altercation on the flight deck forced a Dubai–Tel Aviv service to divert to Saudi Arabia. Their presence has brought an unusual staffing question into focus: when do airlines carry more than two pilots? According to Khaleej Times, the answer usually lies in the length of a pilot’s working day, not a routine requirement to have backup pilots on every flight.

Flight FZ1073, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, diverted to Tabuk on September 30. Flydubai said an altercation on the flight deck prompted the diversion and that off-duty airline crew travelling aboard secured the aircraft. Tracking data from Flightradar24 showed a descent of more than 14,000 feet in less than 30 seconds before a safe landing, the newspaper reported. Saudi authorities said the captain and first officer were injured and taken to hospital.

The UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority and flydubai chief executive Ghaith Al Ghaith praised Captain Smit Matchhar, an Indian pilot, alongside crew members and passengers who helped bring the situation under control. The authority said their intervention helped contain the emergency and prevent more serious consequences. The episode highlighted the role of people already aboard, rather than a standard arrangement to roster extra pilots on short flights.

Why a third or fourth pilot joins a flight

Saj Ahmad, chief analyst at London-based StrategicAero Research, told Khaleej Times that UAE airlines are not obliged to carry an extra pair of pilots on every service. Rules on working hours, rest and fatigue determine staffing needs. Aviation analysts said additional pilots are generally carried on long-haul flights lasting more than eight to 10 hours, or when pilots need to travel to another city for work. They said airlines do not routinely staff short-haul services with additional pilots.

Extra-pilot staffing is driven by regulation, calculations and operational needs, rather than discretion, according to StrategicAero Research’s Saj Ahmad.

The calculation begins before take-off. Airlines count reporting time, typically 60 to 90 minutes before departure, alongside flying time, duties after landing, possible delays, contingency allowances and time-zone changes. Together, these determine the flight duty period—the working window allowed for a crew. Ahmad said a third pilot is needed when that period exceeds the limit for two. A fourth is required if the limit for three would also be exceeded.

A safety measure with a staffing cost

That protection comes with a business constraint. Ahmad said pilots command high salaries, while airlines already face recruitment difficulties. Adding crew who have no operating role on a shorter flight therefore creates a substantial burden with little purpose. Longer services are different: extra pilots allow colleagues to rest without exceeding their permitted flying hours, helping protect both crew and passengers from the risks of exhaustion.

Aircraft including Boeing’s 777 and 787 and Airbus’s A350 can serve very long routes. Hundreds of routes last more than 12 hours, with Singapore–New York and Perth–London Heathrow among the examples cited. Additional pilots may occupy flight-deck seats, but more often use dedicated rest areas. Some airlines also reserve passenger seats for pilots on long services with limited passenger numbers.

The immediate next step is the investigation ordered by the UAE Attorney General into the flydubai incident. The airline has suspended flights to and from Israel. Those developments remain the focus, while the broader staffing issue turns on an established operational challenge: keeping pilots within their working limits without adding scarce, expensive crew to every departure.