Govt to curtail IndiGo’s winter schedule amid mass flight cancellations

Civil Aviation Minister K Ram Mohan Naidu on Monday (December 8) said the government will curtail IndiGo's winter flight schedule and allocate them to other operators following the airline's recent large-scale operational disruptions.

"We will curtail IndiGo's routes. They are currently operating 2,200 flights. We will definitely curtail them," Naidu told Doordarshan news channel.

Also read | IndiGo cancels 560 flights today; refunds touch Rs 827 cr, 4,500 bags returned

The minister also said that refunds worth Rs 745 crore have been given for 7,30,655 cancelled PNRs from December 1 to 8 (as of 5 pm). Besides this, he said that 6,000 of the 9,000 passenger bags have already been delivered, and the remaining ones are scheduled to be delivered by either tonight or Tuesday morning.

DGCA gets IndiGo’s response

Meanwhile, aviation safety regulator DGCA on Monday said it has received IndiGo's response to the show-cause notice issued over the large-scale flight cancellations and will take enforcement action.

It also said that the airline is "profusely apologetic" and deeply regrets the inconvenience and hardship caused to customers following flight cancellations.

DGCA said it is in the process of examining the response, and enforcement action, as deemed appropriate, will be taken in due course.

IndiGo, in its response, said the disruption resulted from a combination of the factors, including minor technical glitches, schedule changes linked to the start of the winter season, adverse weather conditions and increased congestion in the aviation system as well as implementation of and operation under the updated crew rostering rules (Flight Duty Time Limitation Phase II) -- which coincided in lesser or greater measure, as per the statement.

The airline, in its response, stated that "it is realistically not possible to pinpoint the exact cause(s) at this time due to the complexity and vast scale of operations".

It also noted that the DGCA's manual allows a fifteen-day response time for show-cause notices, suggesting more time is needed to conduct a comprehensive 'Root Cause Analysis' (RCA).

Govt plans strict action

The minister earlier said the government plans to take strict action against IndiGo to “set an example” for airlines that violate regulations, even as the country’s largest carrier added more flights and its operations began returning to normal after a week of widespread cancellations.

Also read | IndiGo ramps up operations, issues Rs 610 crore in refunds after week-long disruptions

IndiGo, whose delayed preparation for stricter pilot rest rules triggered last week's wave of cancellations, operated 1,800 flights on Monday, up from around 1,650 on Sunday. At the peak of disruptions, more than two-thirds of its roughly 2,300 daily flights were grounded on December 5.

The DGCA, which had previously issued a show-cause notice to IndiGo CEO to explain the disruptions, set up a four-member panel to probe the matter.

(With agency inputs)