IndiGo airline is moving towards stabilising its operations after nearly two weeks of severe turbulence. The airline on Friday operated more than 2,000 flights. The unprecedented cancellations over the last two weeks left thousands of passengers stranded across major airports. Despite the gradual recovery, the airline still cancelled around 160 flights from Delhi and Bengaluru, two of its busiest hubs.
Delhi logged 105 cancellations (52 departures and 53 arrivals), while Bengaluru saw 54 flights cancelled, airport authorities confirmed.
DGCA takes stern action
In a decisive regulatory intervention, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday suspended four Flight Operations Inspectors (FOIs) over lapses linked to the disruptions. FOIs oversee pilot training, airline safety and operational compliance.
The officials suspended are Rishi Raj Chatterjee (Consultant and Deputy Chief FOI), Seema Jhamnani (Senior FOI), Anil Kumar Pokhariyal (Consultant, FOI) and Priyam Kaushik (Consultant, FOI).
Meanwhile, IndiGo’s board has appointed a specialised global aviation consultancy named Chief Aviation Advisors LLC, led by Captain John Illson, to conduct an independent investigation into the disruptions.
The firm will carry out a root-cause analysis and recommend corrective steps. The decision comes after the recommendations of IndiGo’s Crisis Management Group (CMG), set up by the board earlier this month.
IndiGo CEO appears before DGCA
IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers appeared before the DGCA on Thursday and announced that stranded passengers from December 3-5 would receive a Rs 10,000 travel voucher, valid for a year. This is in addition to full ticket refunds and government-mandated compensation of Rs 5,000-10,000.
Even as flights begin stabilising, the government has toughened its stance. Civil aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu said the meltdown was caused by IndiGo’s “gross mismanagement” and failures in its crew rostering system.