NEW DELHI: Only one in five IndiGo flights operated on time on Wednesday. Aviation ministry data showed the scale of delays and cancellations India’s largest airline — which flies two of every there domestic passengers — faced on Wednesday. IndiGo’s on time performance (OTP) crashed to a mere 19.7% on Wednesday — down from 35% on Tuesday. The number of domestic flights India saw on Wednesday was 3,006 — down from 3,189 a day earlier — essentially due to cancellations by IndiGo.This unprecedented crisis has led to questions about the airline’s preparedness for the new flight duty time limitation (FDTL) norms that came into effect on Nov 1 and has increased pilot requirement. Basically, after a protracted legal battle pilots of Indian carriers now have a slightly more humane flight duty norms that is exited to reduce their stress & fatigue and thereby improve flight safety. “Did the DGCA examine IndiGo’s pilot strength before clearing the winter schedule that came into effect around the same time as the new FDTL norms? Had the pilot strength and flights approved under winter schedule been matched, this unprecedented situation where hundreds of flights are being cancelled and delayed seriously inconveniencing passengers could have been avoided in the first place. It is understandable an airline will like to have minimum number of pilots to keep costs low but the checks should have been done by aviation authorities,” said a senior pilot.IndiGo has cut flights for 48 hours to hopefully get things back on track. Accordingly passengers are being informed about change and being given an option to take refund t travel on other airlines. At the last minute when the 64% market share airline (IndiGo) truncates its schedules, there are not too many alternates for passengers. On its part, IndiGo on Wednesday had issued a statement about the disruptions which said: “We acknowledge that IndiGo’s operations have been significantly disrupted across the network for the past two days, and we sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience caused. 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.”“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 normalize our operations and progressively recover our punctuality across the network. Our teams are working around the clock to ease customer discomfort and ensure operations stabilize as quickly as possible. Furthermore, the affected customers are being offered alternate travel arrangements to reach their destinations or refunds, as applicable. We request customers to check the latest flight status at the IndiGo website before heading to the airport. We deeply regret the inconvenience caused and remain fully committed to minimising disruption and supporting our customers through this period,” IndiGo spokesperson had added.
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