Last week, IndiGo cancelled more than 3,000 flights due to poor pilot roster planning, leaving thousands of passengers stranded. Now, IndiGo says it is back to ‘normal’ operations.
However, the civil aviation ministry ordered the airline to cut its operations by 10%, a move that could see more than 200 cancelled flights daily.
Aviation ministry summons IndiGo
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has launched an investigation to monitor IndiGo’s operations following large-scale disruptions across multiple airports.
The DGCA summoned IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers to review the crisis on Wednesday. Following its review, the DGCA issued a directive and proposed a 5% reduction in IndiGo’s flights, but the figure was changed to 10%.
This is one of the government’s strongest actions yet following public backlash over long delays with mounting complaints coming from passengers nationwide.
The ministry considers it necessary to curtail the overall IndiGo routes, which will help in stabilising the airline’s operations and lead to reduced cancellations,
IndiGo said in a statement on X, confirming the government’s order.
Cut needed to ‘stabilise operations’
The airline has also been ordered to submit its revised flight schedule to the DGCA by Wednesday.
The aviation authorities have instructed the carrier to cap fares, speed up refunds and quicken baggage handover to affected customers. IndiGo has said it has already processed 100% of refunds for flights cancelled until December 6, but acknowledges there are still further refunds to expedite and customer baggage handover.
IndiGo also announced Thursday passengers who were ‘severely impacted’ due to the cancellation of flights between December 3 to 6 will receive ₹10,000 (roughly £82) travel vouchers. The airline said the vouchers will be valid for any future IndiGo journey for the next 12 months.
This payout is in addition to the compensation customers will or have already received that was mandated under the government rules on the airline.
IndiGo cancelled more than 1,000 flights on Friday alone to reboot its network. IndiGo said earlier on Tuesday that its operations were ‘fully stabilised’.
This is seen as the latest in a series of damage control for the Indian airline after seeing a turbulent week of thousands of flights being delayed or cancelled. Between December 1 and 9, IndiGo cancelled over 4,200 flights.
Public outcry and frustrations
Passengers took to social media to demand accountability from IndiGo, while many expressed their frustration and sorrow over cancelled holidays, wedding plans, company meetings and other family commitments.
IndiGo has since apologised for the disruption and chaos, blaming it on ‘misjudgement and planning gaps’ after the DGCA implemented new crew rostering rules. These rules include the Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) that enable better working conditions for pilots and airline crew.
However, these new regulations have been implemented to other major airlines, like Air India, that have not suffered such issues. IndiGo and the other airlines were notified about the new FDTL rules over a year ago.
