Nearly 500 flights cancelled on Monday, aviation minister blames IndiGo's rostering issues
The ministry of civil aviation said on Monday that IndiGo plans to operate 1,802 of its 2,300 daily flights to 137 of its 138 destinations, with nearly 500 cancellations for the day. The airline has delivered 4,500 bags to the passengers out of the total 9,000, and will deliver the remaining in next 36 hours, the ministry said in a statement. Today (Monday) IndiGo plans to operate 1,802 flights to 137 out of 138 destinations, with 500 cancellations. (Also) 4,500 bags were delivered to customers out of the total 9,000 bags. (the airline) targets to deliver balance bags in the next 36 hours, the ministry said. It also said that 5,86,705 PNRs for period December 1-7 were cancelled and refunded, amounting to total Rs 569.65 crore. Total 9,55,591 PNRs for period November 21 to December 7 were also cancelled and refunded, amounting to Rs 827 crore. Meanwhile, addressing the issue in the Rajya Sabha, Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said that the large-scale inconvenience faced by passengers since December 2 stemmed primarily from the airlines internal crew rostering and operational planning challenges. He defended the updated Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms, which came into effect in November and have been cited by IndiGo as a key factor in the disruptions, affirming that the regulations were introduced to ensure pilot safety and fatigue management. The ongoing turmoil has prompted aviation regulator DGCA to extend the deadline for IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers and COOAccountable Manager Isidro Porqueras to respond to its show-cause notices. The replies, originally due within 24 hours of the notices issued on Saturday, must now be submitted by 6 pm on Monday. In its notice, the aviation regulator highlighted significant lapses in IndiGos planning, oversight, and resource management. The DGCA pointed to large-scale operational failures that left lakhs of passengers stranded across airports, underscoring concerns over the airlines preparedness and internal processes.
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