IndiGo winter schedule to be cut back, slots to go to other airlines: Aviation minister

IndiGo’s flights will be cut back and the available slots will be given to other airlines, said Civil Aviation Minister K Ram Mohan Naidu following the carrier’s flight disruptions that left thousands of passengers stranded. Naidu told Doordarshan news channel that IndiGo’s winter flight schedule will be curtailed.

"We will curtail IndiGo's routes. They are currently operating 2,200 flights. We will definitely curtail them," he said.

Naidu stated that refunds worth Rs 745 crore have been given for 7,30,655 cancelled PNRs from December 1 to December 8, 5 pm. As many as 6,000 of the 9,000 passenger bags have been delivered and the ones pending would be delivered on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the airline in its official response to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), called the disruptions “unfortunate” and added that it was the compounding result of multiple factors.

It claimed that it was “realistically not possible to pinpoint the exact cause(s)” and sought more time to conduct a Root Cause Analysis (RCA). It quoted DGCA’s manual that allows a 15-day response time period for show cause notices.

Technical glitches, schedule changes, adverse weather conditions, increased congestion in the aviation system as well as implementation of the updated crew rostering rules (Flight Duty Time Limitation Phase II) led to the disruption, it stated. It has sought variations, exemptions or extensions to the FDTL Phase II.