IndiGo crisis: Anil Rao, General Secretary of the Airline Pilots’ Association (ALPA) India, on Monday said that their top concern is the issue of the IndiGo crisis happening again and that for DGCA to allow a temporary exemption to them from some FDTL rules is compromise that is being made regarding the safety of passengers.
‘Root cause not clear yet,’ says ALPA’s Gen Sec
Speaking to news agency ANI, Rao said that he believes the situation was toally “unwarranted and unexpected” and caught passengers off guard. He said that the airline has blamed it on a “miscalculation,” but no one has explained what exactly went wrong or where the mistake happened. Rao further said that the DGCA has set up a panel of its own officials to investigate the issue and share their findings, adding that the public deserves a clear explanation of the real reason, especially because there’s a risk something similar could happen again.
“The root cause should be explained to the people. The issue is the chances of it happening again,” he said.
‘One law for IndiGo, one for others’
Rao expressed his concern that the DGCA has given IndiGo a temporary relaxation of certain FDTL rules, which he feels could affect safety. He arned that trying to meet flight demands by loosening safety norms is not in the best interest of passengers.
“Our concern is that DGCA allowing a temporary exemption from some FDTL rules compromises the safety. Today we have got one law for IndiGo and one law for other operators. To fulfil the demands of the flights, we are compromising on safety, and that will not go very well with the flying public,” he said.
IndiGo has been facing major operational problems for seven straight days, with hundreds of flights being cancelled or delayed and thousands of passengers affected.
In its notices to CEO Pieter Elbers and COO Sanjay Porqueras, the aviation regulator said that such widespread disruptions show serious shortcomings in planning, supervision, and managing resources. It also pointed out that Porqueras, as the airline’s Accountable Manager, holds direct responsibility.
The regulator told Elbers that, as the head of the airline, he is expected to ensure smooth and dependable operations and make sure passengers have the necessary facilities, but it believes he failed to do so.
According to the notices, the main reason for the chaos is the airline’s failure to put proper systems in place to meet the updated requirements needed for the smooth rollout of the approved FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitations) rules.