IndiGo cancellations: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Sunday issued a show-cause notice to the accountable manager of IndiGo, a day after it issued a similar notice to CEO Pieter Elbers.
In its notice, the aviation watchdog noted that the recent wave of IndiGo flight cancellations have resulted in severe inconvenience, hardship and distress to passengers across India.
“It has also been noticed that the primary cause of said flight disruptions is non provisioning of adequate arrangements to cater to the revised requirements for smooth implementation of the approved FOTL scheme for the airline,” the DGCA said.
What did the DGCA notice say?
Over the past week, IndiGo has cancelled thousands of flights across India, causing massive chaos at almost all airports in the country, citing operational difficulties due to the new Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms of the DGCA.
The aviation watchdog further noted in its show-cause notice that these “large-scale operation failures” indicate major lapses in IndiGo's planning, oversight and resource management.
The IndiGo flight cancellations were “prima facie non-compliance on the part of the airline with the provisions of Rule 42A of the Aircraft Rules, 1937 and the provisions of CAR Section 7, Series J, Part III Issue III (Rev. 2) on Duty Period, Flight Duty Period, Flight Time Limitations and Prescribed Rest Periods - Flight crew Engaged in Scheduled Air Transport Operations,” it said.
The DGCA show-cause notice further noted that IndiGo has failed to provide requisite information and facilities to its passengers as directed under para 3 of CAR Section 3, Series M, Part IV, issue 1 on Facilities to be provided to passengers by airlines due to denied boarding, cancellation of flights and delays in flights.
“As the Post Holder Accountable Manager, you are responsible for ensuring overall Derations are strictly in accordance with the approved manuals and in terms of para 8 of CAR Section Series C, Part II and para 1 of its Appendix 3,” it said.
“...You are directed to show cause within 24 hours of receipt of this notice as to why appropriate enforcement action should not be initiated against you under the relevant provisions of the Aircraft Rules and Civil Aviation Requirements for the violations. Failure to submit your reply within the stipulated period shall result in the matter being decided ex parte,” the DGCA added.
The show-cause notice from DGCA comes a day after similar notices were issued to IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers and other executives.
IndiGo on Sunday said it planned to operate 1,650 flights on the day out of its 2,300 daily journeys, adding that 95% of route connection has been re-established. However, 650 flights still remain cancelled on Sunday.
