Indian DGCA summons IndiGo CEO Elbers to address widespread flight disruptions
Key Points
- 1Indian DGCA summoned IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers on December 11 to address widespread flight disruptions.
- 2DGCA established a four-member committee to probe IndiGo's operational planning, crew rostering, and FDTL compliance.
- 3IndiGo cancelled nearly 220 flights on Wednesday across major airports, contradicting CEO's claims of stable operations.
- 4Government previously cut IndiGo's winter flight schedule by 10%, reducing daily services by approximately 220 flights.
The Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has summoned IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers to its headquarters on December 11 to provide a comprehensive briefing on the airline's recent operational meltdown. The directive, issued on Wednesday, demands detailed data on flight restoration efforts, pilot and cabin crew availability, recruitment strategies, and specifics regarding cancellations and refunds. This move follows days of extensive disruptions that saw thousands of IndiGo flights either cancelled, delayed, or rescheduled across the country.
In response to the escalating crisis, the DGCA has established a four-member probe committee, announced by DGCA chief Faiz Ahmed Kidwai on December 5. This panel is tasked with identifying the root causes of the widespread operational breakdown. Its mandate includes scrutinizing IndiGo’s manpower planning, crew rostering practices, and the airline’s preparedness to implement updated Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) rules for pilots, ultimately determining accountability for planning lapses.
Despite CEO Pieter Elbers' claims on Tuesday that the airline's operations were "back on track" and "stable," IndiGo cancelled nearly 220 flights on Wednesday alone at major Indian airports, including 137 at Delhi, 21 at Mumbai, and 61 at Bengaluru. These cancellations occurred even after the government had already reduced IndiGo's winter flight schedule by 10 percent, amounting to approximately 220 flights out of its nearly 2,200 approved daily services. On Tuesday, the airline had cancelled 460 flights from six major metropolitan areas.
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