DGCA steps in after IndiGo cancels flights

Lowcost carrier IndiGo on Wednesday informed the Directorate General of Civil Aviation DGCA that the airline had to cancel a total of 1232 flights of which as many as 755 flights were scrapped due to crew shortage resulting from the flight duty time limitations FDTL normsAnother 258 flights were affected due to airspace restrictions while 92 flights were impacted due to ATC system failureThe DGCA said in a statement that it is currently investigating the situation and evaluating measures along with the airline to reduce cancellations and delays in order to minimise the inconvenience being caused to passengersIndiGo has also been asked to report to DGCA Headquarters to present the facts leading to the current situation along with plans to mitigate the ongoing delays and cancellations the statement saidA large share of cancellations arose from crewFDTL compliance and airportairspaceATCrelated factors many of which lie beyond the operatorrsquos direct control the airline saidIndiGo also informed the DGCA that its overall ontime performance OTP declined to 677 per cent for November vs 841 per cent in OctoberThe DGCA said it has provided further clarification to the airline for streamlining the implementation of the revised FDTL normsAccording to the DGCA statement IndiGo is now taking measures to strengthen crew planning and rostering while adhering to FDTL norms The airline is also enhancing coordination with ATC and airports to manage capacity constraints and improve turnaround and disruptionmanagement processesTravellers are advised to verify flight status through official channels before departure the statement addedIndiGo was forced to cancel scores of flights on Wednesday across major destinations such as Delhi Mumbai Hyderabad and Bengaluru airports mainly due to crew shortages that wreaked havoc with flying schedulesWhile there were some cancellations on Tuesday the situation turned worse on WednesdayIndiGo said in a statement We acknowledge that IndiGorsquos operations have been significantly disrupted across the network for the past two days and we sincerely apologise to our customers for the inconvenience causedA multitude of unforeseen 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 Flight Duty Time Limitations had a negative compounding impact on our operations in a way that was not feasible to be anticipated the airline statedIndiGo said that to contain the disruption and restore stability the airline has initiated calibrated adjustments to its schedules These measures will remain in place for the next 48 hours and will allow us to normalise our operations and progressively recover our punctuality across the network The airlinersquos teams are working around the clock to ease customer discomfort and ensure operations stabilise as quickly as possible Furthermore the affected customers are being offered alternative travel arrangements to reach their destinations or refunds as applicable the airline said in a statementWe request customers to check the latest flight status at httpswwwgoindigoincheckflightstatushtml before heading to the airport the statement addedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever