India’s aviation watchdog deploys monitors to IndiGo offices
These teams are required to give daily reports to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation
[NEW DELHI] India’s aviation regulator, in an unprecedented move, deployed two on-site teams at IndiGo’s corporate office to monitor operations at India’s largest carrier, which cancelled over 3,000 flights last week and caused massive air disruption.
These teams are required to give daily reports to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, or DGCA, according to a letter sent to IndiGo and seen by Bloomberg News.
A two-member team will look into IndiGo’s crew strength and utilisation, fleet size, routes affected due to crew shortage and standby crew, while the second team will monitor the status of cancellations, on-time performance, refunds and baggage returns to fliers, the letter said.
The latest missive by DGCA follows a show-cause notice it issued Saturday to IndiGo’s chief executive officer Pieter Elbers demanding an explanation for the fiasco and an order on Tuesday (Dec 9) to cut 10 per cent of its flight routes. The sector giant has nearly two-thirds of local market share, which was partly the reason its cancellations hobbled the country’s air travel.
Later Wednesday, the company lowered its third-quarter guidance for both capacity and passenger unit revenue. The overall financial impact of the crisis can’t be quantified at this stage, according to a statement.
The Delhi High Court, while hearing a public interest litigation on this, on Wednesday said that Indigo was expected to compensate the stranded passengers but did not specify any monetary sum. “Start making compensations,” the two-judge bench said. “Compensation not only with respect to cancellations but also for the agony caused to the passengers.
The court also questioned the government lawyer, Chetan Sharma, on how the administration “allowed this situation to precipitate” as well as what powers it had to take action.
Cockpit shortage
IndiGo is facing intense scrutiny – and widespread criticism – for the mass flight cancellations that left thousands of passengers stranded after the airline failed to adequately handle new pilot rest rules, creating a cockpit crew shortage.
The Indian government relaxed the pilot rest rules to allow the airline to stabilise but has spoken of penalising it for failing to plan for a policy change that was known since January 2024.
SEE ALSO
Other airlines ultimately “fell in line” when the new pilot duty norms kicked in but Indigo “hit an air pocket due to their own ineptitude,” Sharma said in court, adding that the airline has “apologised profusely” in its response to the show-cause notice.
The DGCA has also asked CEO Elbers and all top IndiGo executives to come for a meeting on Thursday with a detailed plan on hiring of pilots and restoration of operations, according to people familiar with the matter, who did not want to be cited on private conversations.
The airline said earlier this week that it needs more time to complete a root-cause analysis on what went wrong. It has said that other operational challenges such as technology glitches, winter schedule changes, adverse weather conditions and minor congestion compounded the crisis further.
Rivals circling
IndiGo’s rivals, meanwhile, are swooping in at the opportunity to take a bite out of its nearly 66 per cent market share.
The other carriers, which include Tata Group’s Air India, SpiceJet and Akasa Air, are going to share a plan with DGCA on how they can step up their flight offerings now that IndiGo has been forced to cut back, the people said.
Air India and its low-cost unit Air India Express are looking at shifting capacity from low-traffic routes to high-demand metro routes, while no-frills carrier SpiceJet is looking at increasing the utilisation of its wet- and damp-leased planes, they added. Wet leases in aviation refer to hiring of a plane complete with crew and pilots.
IndiGo, Air India, SpiceJet, DGCA and India’s aviation ministry did not immediately respond to an email seeking comments.
SpiceJet has already announced plans to introduce as many as 100 additional daily flights during the current winter schedule, pending regulatory approvals.
With IndiGo operations stabilising, India’s aviation ministry is also considering rolling back its order on fare caps and may do it within a week, people said, luring the rival carriers to add more flights. BLOOMBERG
Decoding Asia newsletter: your guide to navigating Asia in a new global order. Sign up here to get Decoding Asia newsletter. Delivered to your inbox. Free.
Share with us your feedback on BT's products and services
