The DRDO has successfully completed trials of the Akash-NG missile, which is capable of intercepting high-speed aerial threats at altitudes ranging from 30 metres to 20 kilometres. Equipped with indigenous seekers and dual-pulse motors, this advanced system will soon join the Indian Army and the
DGCA sends show cause notice to IndiGo CEO, flags ‘significant lapses’ in planning
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Saturday sent a show cause notice to IndiGo Chief Executive Officer Pieter Elbers, directing him to explain why action should not be taken against him for large-scale flight disruptions over the past week, The Hindu reported.
Air travel has been severely hit since December 2, when a shortage of pilots and crew forced IndiGo to cancel and delay hundreds of flights. The disruption also led to fares on several routes rising to unprecedented levels.
The DGCA, in the show cause notice to Elbers, said that such large-scale operational failures indicated “significant lapses in planning, oversight”, The Hindu reported. The disruption prima facie showed that the airline had not complied with rules governing pilot rest and duty hours, the regulatory body said.
“Whereas as the CEO you are responsible for ensuring effective management of the airlines, but you have failed in your duty to ensure timely arrangements for the conduct of reliable operations and the availability of requisite facilities to the passenger,” the DGCA said, according to The Hindu.
Elbers has been directed to explain within 24 hours why action should not be taken against him.
The disruption took place after IndiGo failed to adequately adjust its roster to comply with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation's revised duty and rest requirements that came into force on November 1.
The revised rostering rules were issued in January 2024 to address concerns about pilot fatigue and were meant to take effect on June 1.
However, airlines asked for a delayed implementation because of staffing shortages and operational challenges, and the key changes were eventually implemented on November 1.
As IndiGo struggled to meet the new requirements, it was unable to staff enough flights, resulting in widespread cancellations and delays through the week. This led to thousands of passengers stranded at airports, with little information on when their flights would take off.
In the early hours of Sunday, IndiGo said that it had cancelled a significant number of flights on Saturday, and only operated a little above 700 flights. “The main objective was to reboot the network, systems and rosters so that we could start afresh today with higher number of flights, improved stability, and there are some early signs of improvement,” it said.
The airline said that it hopes to operate over 1,500 flights on Sunday.
“With regards to destinations, over 95% of network connectivity has already been re-established as we are able to operate to 135 out of the existing 138 destinations in operations,” IndiGo said. “While we understand that we have a long way to go, we are committed to build back the trust of our customers.”
Source: Scroll
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The DRDO has successfully completed trials of the Akash-NG missile, which is capable of intercepting high-speed aerial threats at altitudes ranging from 30 metres to 20 kilometres. Equipped with indigenous seekers and dual-pulse motors, this advanced system will soon join the Indian Army and the
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