IndiGo: Where Is the Crisis Heading

A thumping silence of the Board of IndiGo, amidst the airline's operational fiasco, was a bone of contention for many…until Vikram Singh Mehta, chairman, InterGlobe Aviation Limited, issued a statement. Close on the heels of his message, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday, suspended four Flight Operations Inspectors (FOIs) who were overseeing IndiGo's safety and operational compliance. This is in contradiction to what Mehta claimed.

Earlier Mehta emphasized that the crisis wasn't engineered as accused by many. "The disruptions did not happen because of any deliberate action. They happened because of a combination of internal and unanticipated external events including minor technical glitches, scheduled changes linked to the start of the winter season, adverse weather conditions, increased congestion in the aviation system, and implementation of/ and operation under the updated Crew Rostering rules. Over the past week, our airline has faced major operational disruptions that have affected many of our valued customers personally, and we are sorry for it."

"IndiGo has followed the pilot fatigue (FDTL) rules as they came into effect. We operated under the new rules throughout… both in July and November. We did not attempt to bypass them. Nor did we do anything that negatively impacted our unblemished track record of safety," he added.

However, contrary to his statement, IndiGo, with the largest domestic market share, has come under the scanner of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for potential violations of competition rules, even as the carrier grapples with regulatory scrutiny triggered by large-scale operational disruptions, PTI reported.

The FOIs were responsible for overseeing IndiGo's flight operations, and were suspended for their negligence. "They are relieved from DGCA with immediate effect to join their respective parent organisations," the DGCA said in a statement.

The aviator regulator is continuously monitoring IndiGo's operations and also summoned its chief executive officer (CEO) Pieter Elbers.

IndiGo has cancelled hundreds of flights since December 2, causing massive passenger inconvenience. While the airline claims operations are stabilising, the disruptions have prompted multiple layers of regulatory intervention. Furthermore, the airline announced that the Board has approved the appointment of chief aviation advisors LLC, led by Captain John Illson, an aviation expert, to conduct an independent expert review and assessment of the recent operational disruption and the contributing factors.

"The objective is to conduct an independent root cause analysis of the recent operational disruption, besides opportunities for improvement. This decision follows the recommendation of the Crisis Management Group (CMG) constituted by the IndiGo Board. As part of its assessment, the CMG advised commissioning an independent expert review in the matter. With the Board's approval now in place, the review will begin at the earliest, and the independent expert reviewer will submit a comprehensive report to the Board upon completion," said an IndiGo spokesperson.

In the latest, the airline said in a statement, "Operational normalization has stabilized since the last four days, IndiGo is set to operate over 2,000 flights today, as per its revised scaled down schedule. All our 138 operational destinations are connected, and our on-time performance has been consistently normal as per IndiGo standards. Yesterday, we operated over 1,950 flights with just four cancellations, due to unfavourable weather, with all affected customers promptly informed to avoid inconvenience."

The airline also announced that it will offer travel vouchers worth INR 10,000 to each passenger whose flights were cancelled or delayed for a long time during December 3-5. The compensation would be in addition to the amount that needs to be provided to passengers for flight cancellations under DGCA norms.