Mumbai: IndiGo Wednesday cancelled nearly 220 flights at three major airports, including Delhi and Mumbai, despite Chief Executive Officer Pieter Elbers claiming that the airline’s operations were back on track.
According to sources, the crisis-ridden airline cancelled 137 flights at Delhi airport and 21 services at Mumbai airport.
IndiGo cancelled 61 flights at Bengaluru airport, including 35 arrivals and 26 departures, sources said.
Tuesday, Elbers claimed that the airline was “back on its feet” and its operations were “stable” even as the government slashed IndiGo’s winter flight schedule by 10 per cent or around 220 flights of the nearly 2,200 approved per day.
IndiGo had cancelled 460 flights from six metros alone Tuesday.
Elbers also said that lakhs of customers have already received their full refunds, without giving any specific numbers, but remained tight-lipped on the issue of compensation to those whose flights were abruptly cancelled, hugely delayed or rescheduled without their consent.
As per the Civil Aviation Ministry’s passenger charter, airlines are liable to pay compensation to passengers for flight delays or cancellations under certain situations. Also, airlines have to provide this compensation automatically without passengers having to request it.
IndiGo has cancelled thousands of flights nationwide after failing to plan for tighter safety regulations, causing severe hardships for passengers, driving up airfares on other domestic carriers and creating chaos across airports pan-India.
After the situation, which started on December 1, the government finally stepped in with the DGCA issuing show-cause notices to Elbers and IndiGo Chief Operating Officer Isidro Proqueras, who is also the Accountable Manager for the Rahul Bhatia-controlled airline, and also ordered capping of airfares.
Tuesday, the government ordered a 10 per cent cut in the airline’s winter schedule.
“The Ministry considers it necessary to curtail the overall Indigo routes, which will help in stabilising the airline’s operations and lead to reduced cancellations. A curtailment of 10 per cent has been ordered. While abiding by it, Indigo will continue to cover all its destinations as before,” Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said.
Earlier that day, the DGCA had issued a notice to the airline, ordering a 5 per cent cut in its schedule and asking it to submit the revised plan by Wednesday, 5 pm.
Meanwhile, DGCA has directed Pieter Elbers to appear at its office Thursday and submit a complete report, along with comprehensive data and updates, relating to the recent operational disruptions.
As per the regulator’s order, the airline has been asked to present information on 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.
PTI
