Mess continues as 99 IndiGo flights cancelled at Kempegowda International Airport
BENGALURU: At least 99 IndiGo flights, including 54 arrivals and 45 departures, were cancelled at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) on Thursday, leaving hundreds of flyers frustrated. The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MOCA) website showed a dismal 19.7% on-time percentage score for the airline. Scores of passengers remained agitated and confused at KIA on Thursday, a situation that was only compounded by the lack of transparency on the part of the airline. I purchased 110 tickets for a flight due to depart on Friday morning; with no updates from the airline, I do not know what to do or expect, rued a passenger at KIA on Thursday. He has booked such a large number of tickets as his sons wedding is scheduled to be held in Bhubaneswar. Many took to social media platforms to vent their ire with the situation not showing any signs of imminent improvement. Weve been stuck at Bangalore airport all day for IndiGo flight to Delhi now looks like it will be over 5 hours delayed and there has been zero official communication from IndiGo. At the very least, passengers deserve timely updates when delays are this long (sic), reads a post uploaded on Thursday evening. According to insiders from the airport, which a statement from IndiGo corroborated on Wednesday as well, the catastrophic situation could be largely attributed to a failure in implementing the new Flight Duty Time Limit (FDTL) rules, which had been mandated by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation way back in January 2024. The FDTL rules ensure that pilots have limited flying hours, so as to not induce fatigue. Months of neglect from the airline and outcry from pilots led to crew shortage, which led to the situation at hand, it is said. Captain Sam Thomas, president of Airline Pilots Association (ALPA) of India, came down heavily on the lack of management by airlines. Despite sufficient time being accorded (to implement the FDTL rules), most airlines started preparing rather late, failing to properly adjust crew rosters 15 days in advance as required. The statement also alleges that the delays could be an arm-twisting tactic against the regulator (DGCA) to seek further sanctions towards postponement of implementation, or even revoking, of the FDTL rules.
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