IndiGo crisis: What instruction DGCA now issued to IndiGo; what IndiGo CEO said?
New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has directed private airline IndiGo to reduce its flight numbers by five percent.
Citing data from October and November this year, the country's aviation regulator said that it has failed to effectively operate the flight slots it had secured in the winter schedule. Consequently, it has been asked to reduce its flights by five percent, especially on high-demand sectors and those where IndiGo operates the sole flight.
In a notice sent to IndiGo on Monday, the DGCA directed it to submit a revised schedule by 5 pm on December 10.
IndiGo had announced 15,014 weekly flights for its winter schedule, which began in September. The five percent reduction means it will have to reduce 750 flights per week.
The regulator said that as per the schedule, IndiGo was supposed to operate 64,346 flights in November, but it operated only 59,438 flights and 951 flights were cancelled. Furthermore, out of its fleet of 403 aircraft, the airline operated only 339 aircraft in October and 344 aircraft in November.
It is noteworthy that after thousands of IndiGo flights were cancelled in December, the government has constituted a four-member high-level committee to investigate the matter. IndiGo's flights were cancelled, especially on December 5, around 1,500 were cancelled.
The regulator stated that as per the schedule, IndiGo was supposed to operate 64,346 flights in November, but it operated only 59,438 flights, with 951 flights cancelled. Furthermore, out of its fleet of 403 aircraft, the airline operated only 339 in October and 344 in November.
It is noteworthy that after thousands of IndiGo flights were cancelled in December, the government formed a four-member high-level committee to investigate the matter. IndiGo flights were cancelled, in particular, on December 5th, nearly 1,500 flights were cancelled.
Airline's operations are now stable: CEO
IndiGo CEO Peter Elbers issued a statement regarding the airline's operational disruptions. He stated that the airline's operations are now stable.
He said, "IndiGo is back on track and our operations are stable... Initially, our priority was to safely transport all customers stranded at airports to their destinations or back to their homes."
"Following this, we initiated the refund process. Millions of customers have received their full refunds, and we continue to do so daily. Most of the items stranded at airports have been delivered to people's homes."
Peter Elbers stated that the airline was only able to operate 700 flights on December 5th, after which the situation gradually improved. According to Peter Elbers, 1500 flights operated on December 6th, 1650 on December 7th, and 1800 on December 8th.
He said, "We are resuming flights to all 138 destinations in our network... Now, on December 9th, I can confirm that our operations have resumed smoothly."