IndiGo crisis Highlights: DGCA's Oversight Team to monitor cancellation and refund status, on time performance

On Wednesday, flight operations at Jammu Airport remained stable and minimally affected during the recent IndiGo flight cancellations and delays reported across the country, as per a senior official.

Amid IndiGo's nationwide flight cancellation fiasco, the situation at the Jay Prakash Narayan International Airport (JPNI) in Patna is "normal", and all concerns of the affected passengers were addressed, a senior official claimed on Wednesday.

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday questioned the central government as to why the situation was allowed to precipitate into a crisis following the cancellation of IndiGo flights, with lakhs of passengers stranded and other airlines charging hefty fares.

Out of the 8 members in the Oversight Team, two members will be deployed at the airline's corporate office on a daily basis, and they have been mandated to look at the 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, reported PTI

Aviation watchdog DGCA has stationed officials at IndiGo office to monitor situation. On Wednesday, the domestic carrier cancelled nearly 220 flights at three major airports, including Delhi and Mumbai

IndiGo cancelled 137 flights at Delhi airport and 21 services at Mumbai airport, sources aware of the matter told news agency PTI. The airline cancelled 61 flights at Bengaluru airport, including 35 arrivals and 26 departures, sources said.

IndiGo on Wednesday cancelled nearly 220 flights at three major airports, including Delhi and Mumbai, amid Chief Executive Officer Pieter Elbers' claims that the airline's operations were back on track.

The Delhi High Court, hearing the IndiGo case before a Bench of Justice DK Upadhyay and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, directed IndiGo and the Central government to ensure that compensation to stranded passengers is initiated without delay and that all DGCA norms relating to assistance and refunds are followed strictly.

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said that the IndiGo disruption is a collective failure on the part of the airline, DGCA and the government.

“The DGCA gave a directive about flying crew rest time. But the airline knew about this well in advance. They should have built capacity by recruiting more pilots and flying crew to meet that new directive,” he said.

He added, “The DGCA should have monitored the airline to see whether they're actually recruiting people. They had enough time to recruit it. There was no monitoring by the DGCA.”

DGCA to conduct immediate onsite inspections at 11 Airports because of large scale inconvenience to passengers because of IndiGo flight disruptions

IndiGo on Wednesday cancelled over 60 flights from Bengaluru Airport, despite Chief Executive Officer Pieter Elbers claiming on December 9 that the airline's operations were back on track.

IndiGo has cancelled 61 flights on Wednesday, including 35 arrivals and 26 departures, PTI reported, citing source.

The Delhi High Court directs that adequate steps be taken to promptly initiate compensation payments to IndiGo passengers who were stranded at the airport.

Delhi High Court pulls up Centre and concerned authorities over IndiGo chaos: “Why did such a situation even precipitate? What steps were taken to assist passengers?” The Bench asks the government to explain the arrangements made to manage stranded travellers and prevent harassment at airports.

SpiceJet plans to add up to 100 additional daily flights during the current winter schedule, aiming to ramp up operations and ensure adequate capacity in the aviation market amid the ongoing IndiGo disruption.

"We are witnessing strong and growing demand across key routes this winter, and look forward to ramping up operations to ensure adequate capacity in India's aviation market. As part of this effort, we plan to introduce up to 100 additional daily flights during the current winter schedule, subject to regulatory approvals," said SpiceJet, as per news agency ANI.

The new flight duty regulations for pilots appear to be much more restrictive compared to other jurisdictions and it is a matter of time before things settle down, global airlines' grouping IATA's Chief Willie Walsh has said.

"The new Indian regulations appear to be much more restrictive than those in other jurisdictions but I think you have got to always recognise that regulators have a responsibility to ensure that the industry is safe and secure.

"The changes have been implemented, I think for the right reasons. It is just a matter of time now before it settles down," he said.

Shares of InterGlobe Aviation, parent company of IndiGo, opened marginally higher at ₹5,012 on Wednesday on the BSE, as compared to Tuesday's close of ₹4,963.40 apiece.

The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) — the apex body for company secretaries with over 78,000 members — has publicly addressed the recent governance shortcomings at IndiGo, the nation’s largest airline.

On Tuesday, the institute advocated for robust governance frameworks that emphasize proactive risk identification, timely corrective action, and clear communication channels.

In a statement, the ICSI flagged the “recent governance lapse highlighted by the IndiGo incident.”

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi claimed that the Govt of India is on its knees, asking IndiGo to keep flying by giving them all kinds of concessions.

“IndiGo has become so big that it is arm-twisting everybody,” she told ANI. “It is for the DGCA and the Ministry of Civil Aviation to ensure that there is no monopoly.”

Speaking to TOI in the interview, Ram Mohan Naidu indicated that IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers may be sacked if need be.

“If it comes to that, definitely I will do it. I will charge them with all the penalties that are there. Definitely, I will look into all of those aspects,” he said.

“Criminal liability, whatever is there within the act and rules, everything will be taken, keeping into account the distress that has been faced by the passengers," he added, as per the newspaper.

Civil Aviation Minister K Ram Mohan Naidu has indicated an intentional move from IndiGo in delaying and cancelling thousands of its flights. In an interview with The Times of India, Naidu accused that IndiGo may have intentionally cancelled nearly 5,000 flights over the past nine days.

The IndiGo flight fiasco continues as 10 departing flights got cancelled at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, Ahmedabad, as per the reports till 8 am on Wednesday.

The passengers are left stranded amid flight disruptions and cancellations. Their facilitation is being taken care of.