New Delhi/ Dec,4: More than 30 IndiGo flights that were scheduled to depart from Delhi were cancelled early Thursday. Hyderabad also saw about 33 flight cancellations. A spokesperson for the airport in Bengaluru said that 73 IndiGo flights had been cancelled on Thursday. Several flights at Mumbai airport were also cancelled.Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad collectively reported about 200 cancellations on Wednesday this week.
IndiGo, which operates about 2,200 flights daily, acknowledged that its operations were “significantly disrupted” and “sincerely apologised” to its customers.
“A multitude of unforeseen operational challenges, including minor technology glitches, schedule changes linked to the winter season, adverse weather conditions, increased congestion in the aviation system, and the implementation of updated crew rostering rules (Flight Duty Time Limitations), had a negative compounding impact on our operations in a way that was not feasible to be anticipated,” the airline said in a statement on Wednesday.
“To contain the disruption and restore stability, we have initiated calibrated adjustments to our schedules. These measures will remain in place for the next 48 hours and will allow us to normalise our operations and progressively recover our punctuality across the network,” IndiGo said.
A major factor behind the chaos at IndiGo, which serves 90 domestic and 40 international destinations, is a sharp shortage of crew, particularly pilots, following the introduction of revised Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms in November, which mandate more rest hours and humane rosters.The aviation watchdog, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), has called the airline officials for a meeting on Thursday. On Wednesday, the DGCA said it was investigating IndiGo flight disruptions and asked the airline to submit the reasons for the current situation as well as the plans to reduce flight cancellations and delays.
Citing recent operational performance information provided by IndiGo, the DGCA said a total of 1,232 flights were cancelled in November, including 755 flights due to crew and FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitations) constraints. As many as 258 flights were cancelled due to “airport/airspace restrictions”, 92 flights were cancelled due to the ATC (Air Traffic Control) system failure, and 127 flights on account of other reasons, the DGCA said. It said that the airline’s overall On Time Performance (OTP) in November was 67.7 per cent compared to 84.1 per cent in October.The new FDTL norms entail increasing weekly rest periods to 48 hours, extending night hours, and limiting the number of night landings to only two, as against six earlier.
They were initially opposed by the domestic airlines, including IndiGo, but were subsequently rolled out by the DGCA following the Delhi High Court’s directives. While the first phase of these FDTL norms came into effect in July, the second phase was implemented from November 1.
