IndiGo cancels over 220 flights at Mumbai, Delhi airports

IndiGo cancelled more than 220 flights at Delhi and Mumbai airports on Sunday as the disruptions entered the sixth day while efforts are on to normalise operations reported news agency PTIThe disruptions have resulted in hundreds of flight cancellations and delays in the last few days causing hardships to thousands of passengersSources said at least 112 flights were cancelled at the Mumbai airport and 109 flights at Delhi airportAfter cancelling approximately 1600 of its 2300 daily flights on Friday the airline saw a reduction in disruptions on Saturday with cancellations falling to around 800 sources told PTIIndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers and COO and Accountable Manager Porqueras on Saturday received DGCA notices seeking explanations within 24 hours on the massive flight disruptionsThe main objective of operating just 700 flights on Friday was to reboot the network systems and rosters so that we could start afresh today Saturday with higher number of flights improved stability and there are some early signs of improvement IndiGo had said in a statementThe airline said it operated 1500 flights on SaturdayIn the notices sent to Elbers and Porqueras the regulator said the largescale operational failures indicate significant lapses in planning oversight and resource managementThe notices mentioned that the primary cause of the flight disruptions is nonprovisioning of adequate arrangements to cater to the revised requirements for smooth implementation of the approved FDTL Flight Duty Time Limitations scheme for the airlineThe Directorate General of Civil Aviation DGCA has asked Elbers and Porqueras to reply within 24 hoursAt the same time government sources told PTI on Saturday that authorities will take appropriate action in the matter of IndiGo flight disruptions depending on the inquiry committee findingsAs flight disruptions continued for the fifth straight day Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu along with senior civil aviation ministry officials held a serious meeting with Elbers to review the situation and address the issues the official told PTIThe meeting held in the national capital on Saturday was attended by Civil Aviation Secretary Samir Kumar Sinha and DGCA chief Faiz Ahmed Kidwai among othersAt the meeting the IndiGo CEO was also asked to ensure that the airline complies with the new FDTL within a given timeframeThe official told PTI that the immediate priority is to restore normalcy in flight operations and the airline has been asked to ensure prompt refund of ticketsThere have been reports that the authorities might take strong action against the airline and its CEOAgainst the backdrop of a large number of flights cancelled and delayed at various airports causing hardships to thousands of passengers aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation DGCA on Friday set up a fourmember inquiry panel to ascertain the reasons for the situation and recommend mitigation measuresThe committee comprises Joint Director General Sanjay K Bramhane and Deputy Director General Amit Gupta Senior Flight Operations Inspector Captain Kapil Manglik and Flight Operations Inspector Captain Rampal at the DGCAThe committee will submit its findings and recommendations to the DGCA within 15 days to enable necessary regulatory enforcement action and ensure institutional strengthening the order saidOn Saturday various measures including capping on airfares and direction to the airline to ensure complete ticket refund for cancelled or delayed flights to all passengers by 8 pm on Sunday were initiated by the ministry as part of efforts to normalise flight operations as well as ensure passenger hardships are reducedWith inputs from PTI