DGCA steps up IndiGo scrutiny; airline announces Rs 10,000 compensation for passengers

New Delhi/ Mumbai, Dec 11 (PTI) Aviation watchdog DGCA on Thursday stepped up scrutiny of the crisis-hit IndiGo with its officials stationing themselves at the carrier's headquarters to monitor the operations and CEO Pieter Elbers being grilled by an inquiry panel on a day when the airline announced a compensation of Rs 10,000 in the form of travel vouchers to affected passengers.

IndiGo, on its part, said it is expected to operate 1,950 flights carrying around 3 lakh passengers, while airports reported flight cancellations.

Over 200 flights were cancelled at Delhi and Bangalore airports on Thursday, according to sources.

The civil aviation ministry has also directed the airline, which generally operates around 2,300 flights, to reduce its winter schedule by 10 per cent.

IndiGo CEO Elbers, who appeared before the DGCA-constituted inquiry panel on Thursday, has been asked to appear again on Friday as the watchdog delves deep into the factors that led to the massive flight disruptions, resulting in hundreds of flight cancellations and impacting thousands of passengers.

The four-member panel comprises Joint Director General Sanjay Brahamane, Deputy Director General Amit Gupta, senior Flight Operations Inspector Kapil Manglik, and FOI Lokesh Rampal, with a mandate to identify the root causes of widespread operational disruptions at the leading domestic carrier.

The committee's mandate includes assessing manpower planning, fluctuating rostering systems, and the airline's preparedness to implement the latest duty period and rest norms for pilots, which came into effect from November 1 this year.

IndiGo, in a regulatory filing, said that Elbers has been asked to appear on December 12, before the Committee of Officers at DGCA, which is examining the matter related to flight disruptions.

Enhancing oversight, DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) officials on Thursday began monitoring IndiGo's operations, refunds, and other processes from the airline's headquarters, sources said.

They said the officials are expected to submit daily reports on the situation at the airline, which has been grappling with significant operational disruptions and the subsequent cancellation of thousands of flights due to planning failures related to the implementation of new pilot and crew duty norms.

With the operations slowly stabilising, IndiGo said it will offer travel vouchers worth Rs 10,000 to each passenger whose flights were cancelled or delayed for long during December 3-5. The vouchers can be used for flights in the next 12 months.

While thousands of passengers were impacted, it was not immediately clear how many passengers will be getting the compensation.

"This compensation is in addition to the commitment under the existing government guidelines, as per which, IndiGo will provide compensation of Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 depending on the block time of the flight, to those customers whose flights were cancelled within 24 hours of departure time," the statement said.

In an unprecedented move, DGCA, on Wednesday, decided to deploy two members from an oversight panel at IndiGo's Gurugram headquarters to monitor cancellation status, crew deployment, unplanned leave, and routes hit by staff shortages. PTI IAS RAM MR