IndiGo flight cancellations have crippled domestic air travel since December 1.
IndiGo flight cancellations: In a major move to monitor IndiGo’s operations amid the recent wave of mass cancellations, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has set up an eight-member oversight team, which will comprise a Deputy Chief Flight Operations Inspector, senior FOIs (Flight Operations Inspector), and two FOIs.
How DGCA will monitor IndiGo operations?
In an order issued on Wednesday, DGCA said two members of its oversight team will be deployed at IndiGo’s corporate offices, and they will monitor airline’s 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, among others.
“Two members of the oversight team will also 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 civil aviation regulator said in its order.
Additionally, two more DGCA officers– a senior statistics officer and a deputy director– will will also 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 said.
The officers will submit a daily report by 6 pm to Joint Director General (Administration) Harish Kumar Vashishth and Joint Director General Jai Prakash Pandey, the regulator said.
IndiGo has been facing operational disruptions for more than one week after the DGCA’s updated crew rostering rule came into effect allowing increased rest periods for pilots and other staff, resulting in hundreds of flight cancellations and delays.
IndiGo cancellations cripple trade, tourism in Delhi
Meanwhile, a trade body has claimed that IndiGo flight cancellations, which has crippled domestic air travel since December 1, has resulted in significant losses to the trade, tourism and exhibition sectors in Delhi.
In a statement issued Wednesday, Chamber of Trade and Industry (CTI) stated that widespread flight cancellations by IndiGo disrupted the movement of visitors in Delhi, resulting in an estimated loss of Rs 1000 crore across various in the national capital, including trade, industry, tourism and exhibition.
