Minister reviews IndiGo disruptions, airline lists crew-timing rules, weather among reasons
Over 300 flights of the airline were cancelled amid the technical glitch and operational issues
India's civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu on Thursday reviewed the operations of IndiGo airlines amid ongoing large-scale flight disruptions, and instructed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to keep a close watch on the network, directing the dominant carrier to "normalise the operations at the earliest".
"In addition, AAI (Airports Authority of India) and other airport operators have also been directed to provide all the support to stranded passengers," Naidu said in a post on X.
Also read | IndiGo CEO blames ‘accumulation’ of issues in internal email
During the meeting, IndiGo attributed the disruption to challenges in crew planning and implementation of the revised Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms, along with seasonal weather-related constraints, news agency PTI reported.
It has requested time until February 10 to fully stabilise operations, HT learnt.
IndiGo, the country's largest airline, generally operates around 2,300 flights daily, and over Wednesday and Thursday alone the airline cancelled over 500 flights.
Measures taken by govt
Naidu expressed displeasure and stressed that ample preparatory time had been available to ensure a seamless transition to the new crew-timing requirements, the report added.
The DGCA has been asked to conduct strict real-time monitoring of IndiGo's operations, including field inspections at major airports, with special emphasis on passenger-handling arrangements and timely communication during delays and cancellations, it added citing an official statement.
Also read | Another bomb threat hits IndiGo: Hyderabad-bound plane diverted to Mumbai, 2nd incident in one day
Officers have been deployed to IndiGo's operational control centres for continuous oversight, the statement said.
The minister also held a meeting with senior officers of Airports Authority of India (AAI) and directed that all airport directors must continuously monitor the situation on the ground.
Pilot shortage, new norms: Reasons for mass cancellation of flights
Notably, the carrier has largely been impacted by an acute pilot shortage ever since the new FDTL norms, which are aimed at reducing fatigue and improving rest periods for pilots, came into effect, people aware of the matter told HT.
These norms establish increased weekly rest periods of 48 hours, extend night hours and limit the number of night landings to only two as compared to six earlier. FDTL rules were issued by the DGCA and are the aviation watchdog’s framework to regulate flight crew members’ hours.
Indigo CEO Pieter Elbers, in an email to staff, listed “minor technology glitches, schedule changes, adverse weather conditions, heightened congestion in the aviation ecosystem, and the implementation of the newly released FDTL norms” as reasons.
Also read | The domino effect that led to IndiGo’s mass flight cancellations, delays
The Airline Pilots Association of India, representing more than 800 pilots, criticised a “failure of proactive resource planning” by dominant airlines amid the crisis at IndiGo.
