IndiGo flight status today: Over 200 IndiGo flights across major airports in the country, including Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kerala, and Hyderabad airports, have been cancelled, news agency ANI reported. At Chennai Airport, 18 departures and 23 arrivals have been cancelled, while at Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport (KIAL), 58 arrivals and 63 departures have been affected, with the next update expected after 6 pm.
At RGI Airport Hyderabad, 14 arrivals and 44 departures have been cancelled. At Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, total flight cancellations stand at 31 (14 arrivals and 17 departures).
Flight disruptions have also extended to other cities. At Thiruvananthapuram Airport (TRV) in Kerala, one domestic arrival and three domestic departures have been cancelled so far. Operations remain affected in parts of Gujarat as well, where 16 flights have been cancelled. These include 9 arrivals and 7 departures.
MoCA, DGCA held review meeting
The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) held a high-level review meeting with all senior officials present amid the ongoing IndiGo crisis. Following the meeting, a statement was issued by the office of the Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu. It stated that the senior officials have been instructed to conduct on-ground inspections at airports to monitor airline operations and passenger services. Any issues observed, including concerns raised directly by passengers, must be resolved without delay.
On Monday, Union Minister Naidu told Rajya Sabha that the problems faced by IndiGo passengers were linked to the airline’s internal crew rostering and operational planning and not the Aircraft Maintenance and Scheduling System (AMSS).
He added that the government consulted with all stakeholders concerning Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) guidelines and assured that the safety standards would not be diluted. Naidu also noted that stringent Civil Aviation Requirements (CARs) are in place to protect passengers impacted by delays and cancellations.
‘It was IndiGo’s responsibility; they failed’
In an interview with DD News, Naidu said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed the ministry “focus on passengers and do more for them than what is required”.
“It was their responsibility, and they have failed in that. And that is why we issued a Show Cause Notice to them. They have replied today, and I am going to study that,” the minister said.
He also pointed out that the rules came into effect on November 1, while the crisis began only in December – indicating that the crisis was not caused by DGCA norms. Questioning the airline’s preparedness, the minister asked, “Secondly, when delays and cancellations started on Dec 3. Then why weren’t relevant measures and communications not in place? Why weren’t the passengers informed beforehand?”
He assured action against the airline once “all details and versions” are reviewed, stressing that the “passenger misery” will be central to the decision. “That [action] will serve as a reference point for all other airlines also, so that there is no repetition of this in future.”
“We also now want to set an example. At the Ministry, we set rules and regulations. We back it up with vigilance and monitoring. Two days before the crisis, on December 1, the DGCA had a meeting with IndiGo officials – to explain to them FDTL rules and offer whatever clarifications they required. But at that time, IndiGo officials did not raise any issue. Why? What led to such a situation in just two days?” the minister asked.
While speaking to ANI, Civil Aviation Secretary Samir Kumar Sinha said that a detailed inquiry into the crisis will be held in the next 15 days. “Once the outcome of the inquiry is there with us, then we will go into the reasons for that, so that these kinds of occurrences do not happen in the future… We will wait for the inquiry report and thereafter take corrective actions,” he said.
IndiGo op to be normal after Dec 10
The Minister has assured that air travel will become normal after December 10. He further said that Rs 745.7 crore in refunds have been processed for 7,30,655 passengers so far, adding that the passengers would not have to pay any additional charges on rebooking with IndiGo till December 15. He also said that 6,000 bags have been returned to the passengers, and the remaining 3,000 bags will be sent today.
IndiGo’s on-time performance dropped to 68% in November from 84% in October, with over 1,200 cancellations in November. “Today (December 8), we are all set to operate over 1,800 flights, connecting all stations that we operate to. We have optimised our operations and managed to reduce the number of cancellations, which are being notified to customers in advance. Our on-time performance (OTP) has also improved to 91% across the network,” IndiGo said in a statement.
“Over 1800 flights operated, which is up from ~1,650 yesterday, and 90% on-time performance (OTP) across the entire network has been registered, up from ~75% yesterday,” the statement further read.
DCGA on December 6 issued show cause notices to IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers and its COO Isidro Porqueras. The airline has requested more time to respond to them, stating that it is “realistically not possible to pinpoint the exact cause(s)” at this time, considering the “complexity and vast scale of operations”. A four-member committee under DGCA will come out with the details soon.
Govt capped airfares
The government, in an order issued on December 6, has capped airfares in the interest of passengers amid the ongoing IndiGo fiasco. The highest base fare allowed is Rs 7,500 for flights up to 500 km, Rs 12,000 for 500-1,000 km, Rs 15,000 for 1,000-1,500 km, and Rs 18,000 for flights longer than 1,500 km. These prices are only for the base fare and do not include extra charges like UDF, PS, or taxes. The rules also do not apply to business class tickets or UDAN flights.