IndiGo chaos continues: DGCA deploys oversight team at airline's corporate office. Details here

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in its order on Wednesday that it has deployed an oversight team at IndiGo's corporate office to monitor the airline's operations as passengers continue to be inconvenienced due to large-scale cancellations and disruptions at various airports across the country.  

The team has been tasked to look into areas such as total fleet, average stage length, total number of pilots, network details, crew utilisation in hours, monthly/daily dead heading (DH for flight duty), crew under training, split duties, all unplanned leaves per day (sick leave, casual leave, and emergency leave), flights per day and available crew, total number of sectors affected on account of crew shortage, and standby crew per day and per base (cockpit and cabin). 

Besides this, they will also monitor the cancellation status of domestic and international flights, the refund status of airline and OTA platforms/travel agents, on-time performance, compensation to the passengers as per civil aviation requirements (CAR), and baggage return. 

Earlier in the day, the civil aviation regulator directed IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers to appear in its office on Thursday afternoon and submit a detailed report, along with comprehensive data and updates, related to the recent operational disruptions. 

The airline has been asked to furnish information about the flight restoration, recruitment plan of pilots and crew, with updated position of pilot and cabin crew strength, number of flights cancelled and refunds processed, among others.

It also said that the CEO, along with senior officials from all relevant departments, has been instructed to attend the meeting. The DGCA also announced a panel to review manpower planning, fluctuating crew rostering systems, and the airline's readiness to implement the latest duty period and rest norms for pilots.

It will also review the airline's compliance with the revised flight duty time limitation (FDTL) rules, as per DGCA chief Faiz Ahmed Kidwai. Despite Elbers claiming that the airline's operations are stable, nearly 220 flights were cancelled at three major airports across the country on Wednesday.

IndiGo cancelled 137 flights at Delhi airport and 21 at Mumbai airport. Over 60 flights were cancelled from Bengaluru airport, whereas seven flights were cancelled at the Goa airport. Besides, 10 flights were cancelled at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport in Ahmedabad as of Wednesday morning.