India’s aviation watchdog DGCA on Wednesday said it is investigating widespread flight disruptions at IndiGo and has sought a detailed explanation from the airline on the reasons for the current situation and the steps being taken to reduce cancellations and delays.
IndiGo, the country’s largest carrier, cancelled more than 100 flights across airports on Wednesday and delayed scores of others as it faced significant operational disruptions primarily due to a shortage of crew.
The airline also announced calibrated schedule adjustments for the next 48 hours in an attempt to stabilise operations.
In a statement, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation said it is evaluating the situation along with the airline to minimise passenger inconvenience.
“IndiGo has been asked to report to DGCA, Headquarters, to present the facts leading to the current situation along with plans to mitigate the ongoing delays and cancellations,” the regulator said.
According to operational data submitted by IndiGo, a total of 1,232 flights were cancelled in November. Of these, 755 flights were scrapped due to crew and FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitations) compliance issues.
Another 258 were cancelled owing to airport or airspace restrictions, 92 due to ATC (Air Traffic Control) system failures and 127 for other reasons.
DGCA noted that a large share of the cancellations stemmed from crew and FDTL compliance along with airport, airspace and ATC related factors, many of which lie outside the airline’s direct control.
The airline’s overall On Time Performance in November fell to 67.7 per cent compared with 84.1 per cent in October. The regulator added that 16 per cent of delays were caused by ATC related issues, 6 per cent by operations crew, 3 per cent by airport facility problems and 8 per cent due to other factors.
The watchdog said it had already provided further clarification to IndiGo to streamline implementation of revised FDTL norms.
The corrective measures proposed included strengthening crew planning and rostering while ensuring compliance with FDTL limits, improving coordination with ATC and airports to handle capacity constraints and enhancing turnaround and disruption management processes.
The first phase of the new FDTL norms came into effect in July. The second phase, which restricted the number of night landings to two instead of the earlier permitted six, was implemented from 1 November. The norms were initially slated for implementation from March 2024 but airlines including IndiGo sought a staggered rollout citing the need for additional crew.