IndiGo Turbulence Deepens: DGCA Summons Airline To Explain Disruptions As Cancellation Wave Continues

IndiGo-parent InterGlobe Aviation Ltd. has been summoned by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation as nationwide disruptions continue to rattle India’s largest airline, NDTV Profit learnt on Thursday. The regulator has called the carrier’s officials for a meeting to explain the ongoing operational issues and present a detailed plan to mitigate disruptions.

The summons comes amid expectations that IndiGo is likely to cancel over 150 flights today, extending the turbulence passengers have faced over the past several days.

The airline cancelled close to 200 flights across Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru in recent days, sources told NDTV. The cancellations stem from complications arising out of the rollout of new flight duty-time limitation (FDTL) norms, which took effect last month.

According to people familiar with the matter, IndiGo is grappling with a severe pilot and crew shortage triggered by challenges in enforcing the new rostering rules.

The airline, in a statement, attributed the disruptions to a combination of weather-related issues, tech infrastructure bottlenecks and the updated duty-time norms.

“A multitude of unforeseen operational challenges including minor technology glitches, schedule changes linked to the winter season, adverse weather conditions, increased congestion in the aviation system and the implementation of updated crew rostering rules had a negative compounding impact on our operations in a way that was not feasible to be anticipated,” the airline said.

India’s largest airline by market share cancelled over 1,200 flights in November, according to a press note issued on Wednesday. The bulk of these cancellations — 755 flights — were linked to crew and FDTL-related constraints following the rollout of the new norms.

The second-biggest factor was airport/airspace restrictions, which led to 250 cancellations. Another 127 flights were cancelled due to miscellaneous reasons, while 92 flights were grounded because of air traffic control system failures.