Aviation regulator DGCA has summoned IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers to appear at its headquarters on Thursday at 3 pm, demanding a detailed briefing on the airline’s recent operational meltdown.
The directive, issued Wednesday, requires Elbers and key departmental heads to present comprehensive data on flight restoration efforts, pilot and cabin crew availability, recruitment plans, cancellations, and refunds.
The move follows days of massive disruptions that saw thousands of IndiGo flights cancelled, delayed, or rescheduled. In response, the DGCA has set up a four-member probe committee tasked with identifying the root causes of the breakdown.
The panel, comprising Joint DG Sanjay Brahamane, Deputy Director General Amit Gupta, Senior Flight Operations Inspector Kapil Manglik, and FOI Lokesh Rampal, will scrutinize IndiGo’s manpower planning, crew rostering practices, and the airline’s preparedness to implement updated duty-time and rest norms for pilots.
Announced by DGCA chief Faiz Ahmed Kidwai on December 5, the panel will also evaluate IndiGo’s compliance with revised Flight Duty Time Limitation rules and determine accountability for planning lapses that triggered the widespread disruption.
Nearly 220 flights cancelled at three major airports
Even as CEO Pieter Elbers had claimed that the airline's operations were "back on track," IndiGo on Wednesday cancelled nearly 220 flights at three major airports in the country.
According to a PTI report citing sources, the 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.
On 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 on Tuesday.
(With inputs from PTI)