Mumbai: The civil aviation ministry Tuesday said it has ordered Indigo to reduce its flight schedule by 10 per cent as it would help the crisis-ridden airline to stabilise operations, which have been disrupted massively due to the transition to the second phase of the new flight duty norms for pilots.
Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu, in a statement, also said that IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers was summoned to the ministry to provide an update, and he “confirmed” that 100 per cent of the refunds for flights affected till December 6 have been completed.
“A curtailment of 10 per cent (in IndiGo’s flight schedule) has been ordered. While abiding with it, IndiGo will continue to cover all its destinations as before,” Naidu said in the statement.
Earlier in the day, aviation safety regulator DGCA had issued an order, saying that IndiGo’s flight schedule was being cut by 5 per cent.
The ministry considers it “necessary” to curtail the overall IndiGo routes, which would help in stabilising the airline’s operations and lead to reduced cancellations, he said.
Starting early this month, IndiGo cancelled thousands of flights, causing severe hardship to lakhs of passengers and there was complete chaos at airports.
Naidu also said that Indigo has been instructed to comply with all the directives of the ministry, including fare capping and passenger convenience measures, without any exception.
During the last week, many passengers faced severe inconvenience due to Indigo’s internal mismanagement of crew rosters, flight schedules and inadequate communication, the minister said.
“While the enquiry and necessary actions are underway, another meeting with Indigo’s top management was held to review the stabilisation measures. On Tuesday again, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers was summoned to the Ministry to provide an update,” Naidu said.
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