Welcome to The India Fix by Shoaib Daniyal. A newsletter on Indian politics. As always, if you've been sent this newsletter and like it, to get it in your inbox every week, sign up here (click on “follow”). In 2019, the Modi government passed the Citizenship Amendment Act
DGCA launches probe after IndiGo faces widespread flight delays
Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Wednesday said it is investigating widespread disruptions to airline IndiGo's operations and directed it to explain the recent spike in cancellations and delays, as well as outline how it intends to restore normal schedules, PTI reported.
On Wednesday, IndiGo cancelled over 150 flights across airports in the country, 38 of them in Delhi alone, The Indian Express reported.
The airline cancelled 1,232 flights in November, including 755 due to crew shortages and new flight duty time limitations, according to data shared with the regulator.
The remaining cancellations were attributed to airspace restrictions, airport-related constraints, an Air Traffic Control system failure and other reasons.
In this backdrop, the aviation regulator said it was reviewing the situation with the airline to reduce passenger inconvenience, PTI reported.
The aviation regulator noted that while many of the causes were outside the airline's direct control, IndiGo's on-time performance fell to 67.7% in November from 84.1% in October.
IndiGo in a statement on Wednesday said the disruptions stemmed from several 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,” The Indian Express reported.
It said it had introduced calibrated schedule adjustments for 48 hours to stabilise operations, which would likely involve selective rescheduling and cancellations aligned with available crew, the newspaper reported.
The disruptions come amid stricter crew rostering and duty-time norms introduced in November.
The revised rostering norms issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation in January 2024 after concerns about pilot fatigue were meant to take effect on June 1. However, airlines asked for delayed implementation because of staffing shortages and operational challenges, and the key changes were eventually introduced on November 1.
The Federation of Indian Pilots said the disruption is a direct consequence of IndiGo's “prolonged and unorthodox lean manpower strategy across departments, particularly in flight operations”, The Indian Express reported.
Source: Scroll
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Welcome to The India Fix by Shoaib Daniyal. A newsletter on Indian politics. As always, if you've been sent this newsletter and like it, to get it in your inbox every week, sign up here (click on “follow”). In 2019, the Modi government passed the Citizenship Amendment Act
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