Over 300 IndiGo flights cancelled at more than 10 airports, when the situation will return to normal
Due to new safety regulations in the aviation sector, the country's largest airline, IndiGo, is facing a crew shortage for the third consecutive day. This has adversely affected IndiGo's operations. More than 300 IndiGo flights were cancelled at more than 10 airports, including Delhi and Mumbai, on Thursday.
The airline issued a statement on Wednesday. It said that minor technical glitches, winter schedule changes, bad weather, slow aviation network, and new regulations related to crew shift charts (flight duty time limitations) have adversely affected operations. This was not possible to predict in advance. The situation will return to normal by December 5th.
A total of 95 IndiGo flights were cancelled at Delhi Airport on Thursday. These included 48 departing and 47 arriving domestic and international flights. 86 flights were cancelled in Mumbai, 50 in Bengaluru, 70 in Hyderabad, 4 in Jaipur, and 3 in Indore.
A passenger at Pune Airport reported waiting for more than eight hours. Both floors of the airport are packed with passengers. Three passengers even fainted. There is no message from the airline regarding flight cancellations.
DGCA has amended safety regulations related to work of pilots
In fact, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has amended safety regulations related to the work of pilots and other crew members for all airlines, effective November 1st. This has affected IndiGo Airlines the most. On Thursday, IndiGo officials met with the DGCA to discuss the matter.
The airline operates approximately 2,300 domestic and international flights daily. This is almost double the number of flights operated by Air India in a single day. If even 10-20 percent of flights are delayed or cancelled on such a large scale, it means 200-400 flights will be affected, causing significant hardship for thousands of passengers. On Wednesday, more than 200 IndiGo flights were affected.
The DGCA has amended the work regulations for pilots and other crew members, effective November 1st. This is called Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL). These were implemented in two phases. The first phase came into effect on July 1st.
The second phase came into effect on November 1st. The new rules emphasize providing adequate rest to pilots and crew to enhance passenger safety. This has led to a sudden shortage of pilots and crew members for airlines. The DGCA reported that a total of 1,232 IndiGo flights were cancelled in November, including 755 due to the FDTL regulations.
IndiGo said the situation will return to normal by December 5
The airline issued a statement on Wednesday. He said that minor technical glitches, winter schedule changes, bad weather, slow aviation network, and new regulations related to crew shift charts (flight duty time limitations) have adversely affected operations. This was not possible to predict in advance. The situation will return to normal by December 5th.