After DGCA relaxes norms, IndiGo struggles to limp back to normalcy
Three of its 10 flights from Jammu and seven flights from Srinagar were cancelled for operational reasons on Saturday.
Domestic carrier IndiGo cancelled three of its 10 flights from Jammu and seven flights from Srinagar on Saturday, a day after managing to temporarily secure major relaxations in the second phase of the court-mandated new flight duty and rest period norms for cockpit crew.
Jammu airport director Devendra Yadav said of the 10 IndiGo flights from Jammu airport, seven were operating, while three stood cancelled. Other airliners, such as Spicejet, Air India and Air India Express, were operating normally.
The railways is operating the special Vande Bharat train from New Delhi to Udhampur and back to New Delhi for the convenience of passengers stranded following the suspension of IndiGo flights.
Sources said more than 1,000 seats were available. “The railways may introduce more trains,” said spokesperson Raghvendra Singh.
Seven morning flights of IndiGo were cancelled from Srinagar airport on Saturday morning.
IndiGo cancelled over 400 flights from four major airports on Saturday, sources said. Of these, 124 flights (63 departures and 61 arrivals) were cancelled at Bengaluru airport and 109 flights, 51 departures and 58 arrivals, at Mumbai airport, they said.
The number of cancellations at Delhi airport stood at 106, including 54 departures and 52 arrivals, the sources said, adding that 66 flights have been cancelled by IndiGo at Hyderabad airport.
On Friday, when IndiGo cancelled over 1,000 flights from across airports, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers, after maintaining a stoic silence over the crisis for three days, apologised in a video message for the major inconvenience caused to passengers due to the disruptions.
In the one-way video communication, Elbers also said that the airline was expecting fewer than 1,000 flights on Saturday. He said IndiGo flight operations would get back to normal between December 10-15.
On Friday, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) provided temporary relief to IndiGo, which is partially owned by Rahul Bhatia, by rolling back the night duty definition to 12am-5am from 12am-6am earlier, and allowing its pilots to do six night-landings from two earlier, besides other relaxations.
Meanwhile, the Airlines’ Pilots Association (ALPA) India, has taken a “strong” objection to the DGCA’s “selective and unsafe” relief to IndiGo, saying that the relaxations have not just destroyed regulatory parity but also placed millions of passengers at heightened risk.
Following the meeting convened by the ministry of civil aviation with ALPA India and other pilot associations on December 5, the ministry announced that it has decided to place the implementation of the revised FDTL CAR in abeyance.
