Outcry across the country regarding IndiGo! DGCA sent notice to CEO, if response is not given in 24 hours then action will be taken – read top updates till now

India’s largest Airline IndiGo These days it is going through the biggest operational crisis in history. Flight cancellations and huge delays that have continued for five days have created chaos at airports across the country. Thousands of passengers were stranded, runways were jammed and social media was filled with complaints. In such a situation, on Saturday, DGCA took a tough stance and directly served a show-cause notice to IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers.

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The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has clearly said that this ‘operational meltdown’ of IndiGo is the result of gross negligence of the top management. The regulator has ordered the CEO to reply within 24 hours, otherwise he has been warned of ex-party action. In clear words it is difficult to avoid.

DGCA’s direct allegation – ‘CEO failed, huge irregularities in planning’

In the notice, DGCA said that “massive disruptions” were observed in IndiGo’s scheduled flights, causing “severe inconvenience, hardship and distress” to passengers. The notice said that it has been observed that there have been huge disruptions in the scheduled flights of M/s Indigo Airlines recently, causing serious inconvenience, hassle and stress to the passengers.

According to DGCA, the main reason for the airline’s operational crisis is negligence in implementing the new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) rules. The airline was not able to prepare pilot roster, staffing and resource management on time, resulting in large-scale cancellations and delays.

There was a glitch in implementing FDTL – this is where the whole game went wrong.

DGCA says that IndiGo did not make adequate arrangements to implement the new FDTL standards. It is written in the notice that the main reason for the above flight disruptions is the lack of proper arrangements to meet the revised requirements for the smooth implementation of the approved FDTL scheme. This glitch increased pilot shortage and the operational network broke like a chain.

‘Tsunami-like lapse’ in airline planning and oversight – DGCA

DGCA clearly said that this entire incident exposes huge mistakes in planning, oversight and resource management of IndiGo. Addressed directly to the CEO, the notice read that “As CEO, it is your responsibility to ensure effective management of the airline… You have failed in your duty to ensure timely arrangements for reliable operations.” It was also said that Indigo ignored the instructions and estimates already given.

24 hour ultimatum – otherwise action will start

DGCA has ordered Peter Albers to give a complete reply within 24 hours. If no response is received, the agency will decide the issue ‘ex parte’, that is, the action will be considered final. Ground report of the crisis: An atmosphere of panic in the country’s airports. IndiGo’s crisis reached its fifth day on Saturday. 109 flights were canceled in Mumbai, the country’s busiest airport, while 86 flights were canceled in Delhi. Lakhs of passengers had to spend nights in hotels, airport floors and ticket counters.

Central Government’s entry- order of FDTL ban, high-level investigation and auto-refund

On Friday, seeing the situation worsening, the Center took a big step – temporarily stopped the FDTL norms. IndiGo asked to give automatic refund for all canceled flights. DGCA orders high-level investigation. Indigo’s compulsion? 400+ aircraft, 2,300 flights – but a huge shortage of pilots. Indigo operates 2,300 flights daily. But due to failure of roster planning, there was a sudden shortage of pilots and these became the real villains of the entire crisis.

The whole ruckus so far: What has happened? (Quick Recap)

• Heavy flight disruption across the country for five days
• Passengers’ anger erupted on social media
• DGCA issues notice to CEO in strong language
• Allegation of negligence in implementing new FDTL
• Maximum cancellations in Mumbai, Delhi
• Central government issued investigation and refund order
• ‘Biggest crisis’ on IndiGo’s operations