dgca-s-oversight-team-to-supervise-indigo-operations

Amid ongoing chaos in IndiGo airlines’ flight schedules more than a week after mass flight cancellations began due to crew shortage, the country’s aviation safety regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), set up an eight-member oversight team to supervise goings-on at the airlines’ offices and flights, as well as the status of refunds and baggage return.

According to an order issued by the DGCA on Wednesday, the oversight team will comprise a Deputy Chief Flight Operations Inspector, senior FOIs (Flight Operations Inspector), and two FOIs. 

Additionally, two of the members will be deployed at IndiGo’s corporate office on a daily basis to keep a close eye on the total fleet, average stage length (distance that an aircraft travels in one leg), total number of pilots, network details, crew utilisation in hours, and crew under training.

They have also been mandated to keep a watch on flights per day, unplanned leave per day, total number of sectors affected on account of crew shortage, as well as cockpit and cabin crew on standby per day per base, the DGCA order said.

Two other officers from the DGCA office – a senior statistics officer and a deputy director – will be deployed at IndiGo corporate office to monitor the status of domestic and international cancellations, refund status, on-time performance, compensation to the passengers as per the civil aviation requirement and baggage return, the order further said.

Both teams are required to submit a daily report by 6 pm to Joint Director General (Administration) Harish Kumar Vashishth and Joint Director General Jai Prakash Pandey.

IndiGo CEO asked to appear at DGCA office on Thursday with detailed report

This order follows the DGCA’s directions to IndiGo’s Chief Executive Officer, Pieter Elbers, to appear at its office on Thursday at 3 p.m. and submit a complete report, along with comprehensive data and updates, relating to the recent operational disruptions, a statement by the regulator said on Wednesday.

The order also asks the airline CEO to present information on flight restoration, recruitment plan of pilots and crew, with updated position of pilot and cabin crew strength, number of flights cancelled and refunds processed, among others.

The airline, which had so far enjoyed monopolistic business in the country, encountered sudden operational disruptions early December after new crew rostering rules by the Centre came into effect on November 1, requiring increased rest periods and curtailed night flying for pilots and other staff. 

Unable to plan ahead, the airline was forced to cancel hundreds of flights, leading to chaos at airports, endless queues and passenger harassment.

 

Also Read: Delhi HC pulls up Centre for IndiGo crisis, directs compensation

Facing flak for allowing the crisis to unfold by allowing the airline to hog most of the flight schedules, the government DGCA appointed a panel to probe the disruptions. 

Comprising Joint DG Sanjay Brahamane, Deputy Director General Amit Gupta, senior Flight Operations Inspector Kapil Manglik, and FOI Lokesh Rampal, the four-member committee is now tasked with identifying the root causes behind the operational breakdown.

It will also review IndiGo’s compliance with the revised Flight Duty Time Limitation provisions, including assessing gaps admitted by the airline and fixing accountability for planning failures that resulted in widespread disruptions. 

SpiceJet to add 100 daily flights

Domestic carrier SpiceJet on Wednesday said it is planning to introduce up to 100 additional daily flights during the current winter schedule amid the government curtailing IndiGo’s schedule by 10 per cent.

“As part of this (ramping up operations) effort, we plan to introduce up to 100 additional daily flights during the current winter schedule, subject to regulatory approvals,” SpiceJet said in a statement.

Under the current winter schedule, SpiceJet has been allowed to operate 1,568 flights per week or 224 per day, which was 20.89 per cent higher compared to 1,297 flights per week, operated by the carrier during last winter.

As compared to the summer schedule (1,240 flights per week) of this year, the growth was 26.45 per cent.

SpiceJet said enhanced fleet availability by way of induction of 17 aircraft into active operations in the past two months through a mix of damp lease and the return of its own aircraft to service will help it increase per-day flights.

“This enhanced fleet availability gives us the operational flexibility to deploy incremental capacity on high-demand routes and improve overall network resilience,” the airline said.

SpiceJet had a total of 32 aircraft – 28 Boeing 737 and 4 regional jets – in operations while 36 on ground as on December 9, as per aircraft fleet tracking website, planespotter.net. This is up from 18 aircraft, which were in operations, as on September 30.

“Our focus in the current schedule period is to add several more aircraft, maximise aircraft utilisation and strengthen connectivity through better planning,” SpiceJet said.

IndiGo flight cancellations continue

 

Despite claims of operations stabilising, Indigo cancelled nearly 220 flights at three metro airports on Wednesday.

According to sources, the crisis-ridden airline cancelled 137 flights at Delhi airport and 21 services at Mumbai airport, while 61 flights were cancelled at Bengaluru airport, including 35 arrivals and 26 departures, sources said.

On Tuesday, Elbers claimed that the airline was “back on its feet” and its operations were “stable” even as the government slashed IndiGo’s winter flight schedule by 220 flights of the nearly 2,200 approved per day.

Elbers also said that lakhs of customers have already received their full refunds, without giving any specific numbers, but remained tight-lipped on the issue of compensation to those whose flights were abruptly cancelled, hugely delayed or rescheduled without their consent.

“The Ministry considers it necessary to curtail the overall Indigo routes, which will help in stabilising the airline's operations and lead to reduced cancellations. A curtailment of 10 per cent has been ordered. While abiding by it, Indigo will continue to cover all its destinations as before,” Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said.

Earlier that day, the DGCA had issued a notice to the airline, ordering a 5 per cent cut in its schedule and asking it to submit the revised plan by Wednesday, 5 pm.