India’s largest airline IndiGo is currently grappling with serious operational failures. Regarding this, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued a show cause notice to IndiGo Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Peter Elbers on Saturday night. Earlier, despite severe operational disruptions, IndiGo claimed to have restored connectivity on 95 per cent of its routes and operated a total of over 1,500 flights on 135 of its 138 destinations.
What did DGCA say in the notice?
DGCA wrote in the notice, ‘The main reason for this crisis was the failure by IndiGo to implement the revised flight duty time limit (FDTL) for pilots. This change was notified months ago and came into effect from November 1. The notice further read, ‘The airline’s inability to adjust its roster and resources in a timely manner has resulted in flight cancellations, delays, crew shortages and disruption on 138 of its destination routes.’
The notice mentions the problems faced by passengers
The notice reads, ‘It has been observed that there has been massive disruption in the scheduled flights of IndiGo recently, resulting in serious inconvenience to passengers. It is also observed that the primary reason for the said flight disruption is the non-provision of adequate arrangements for the airline to meet the revised requirements for smooth implementation of the approved FDTL scheme. This shows complete negligence of IndiGo management.
DGCA made these allegations against Indigo
The DGCA in the notice has accused IndiGo of failing to plan for revised duty and rest requirements for the cockpit crew, non-compliance with Rule 42A of the Aircraft Rules, 1937, violating several civil aviation requirements (CARs) governing duty periods. Similarly, several other allegations have also been made, including failure to provide essential information, assistance or facilities to passengers during cancellations and delays of flights.
DGCA held CEO responsible, gave 24 hours to reply
The notice further reads, ‘As CEO, you are solely responsible for ensuring effective management of the airline. You have failed in your duty to ensure timely arrangements for reliable operations and to provide necessary facilities to the passengers.’ DGCA has given 24 hours time to the CEO to respond and warned that failing to do so, unilateral punitive action will be taken against him.
Committed to regaining customer trust – Indigo
“While we understand we still have a long way to go, we are committed to regaining the trust of our customers,” an IndiGo spokesperson said. The airline also thanked its partners, government agencies, customers and employees for their cooperation. This statement by the company came after the Civil Aviation Ministry directed to give refunds by Sunday evening and to deliver the left luggage of the passengers to their homes within 48 hours.
Fare fixed at Rs 7,500 for distance of 500 kilometers
Amid the IndiGo crisis, many reports of other airlines charging higher fares have come to light. After this, the government has fixed the fare according to the distance. Now the fare for air travel up to 500 kilometers will be Rs 7,500. Whereas between 500 to 1000 kilometers the fare can be charged a maximum of Rs 12,000, between 1,000 to 1,500 kilometers a maximum of Rs 15,000 and for distances more than 1,500 kilometers a maximum of Rs 18,000 can be collected.
Indigo CEO apologized for the disruption
Following the hint of government action, IndiGo CEO Peter Albers apologized for the inconvenience caused by the disruptions in the evening and assured that operations of all flights would be normalized soon. Here, DGCA had tried to provide temporary relief to IndiGo by relaxing some norms of pilot rostering. However, the Airlines Pilots Association (ALPA) India has criticized the move for compromising safety standards mandated by the court order.
More than 850 Indigo flights canceled even today
Even today, more than 800 IndiGo flights have been canceled from four major airports of the country – Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru and many cities. Indigo said it has capped the fare for domestic flights at a maximum of Rs 18,000. Thousands of passengers were troubled during this period. Videos of arguments between passengers and staff have emerged from many places. At the same time, Railways has installed additional coaches in many trains and has announced to run 4 special trains.
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