DGCA panel probing IndiGo flight disruptions likely to summon CEO, COO on Wednesday: Source

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation-appointed panel investigating the flight disruptions at IndiGo is likely to summon the airline’s CEO Pieter Elbers and Chief Operating Officer Isidre Porqueras on Wednesday as part of the ongoing probe, according to a source on Monday.

The four-member panel, comprising Joint DG Sanjay Brahamane, Deputy Director General Amit Gupta, senior Flight Operations Inspector Kapil Manglik, and FOI Lokesh Rampal, has been tasked with identifying the root causes of widespread operational disruptions.

Its mandate includes assessing manpower planning, fluctuating rostering systems, and the airline’s preparedness to implement the latest duty period and rest norms for pilots.

The panel, announced by Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Faiz Ahmed Kidwai on December 5, will also review the extent of compliance with the revised FDTL provisions, including analysis of gaps admitted by the airline and ascertain the accountability and responsibility for planning failures that led to the breakdown of operational stability, among others.

“The panel is likely to summon IndiGo Chief Executive Officer Pieter Elbers and Chief Operating Officer Isidre Porqueras on Wednesday as part of the ongoing probe into the disruption of the airline’s flight services at such a scale,” a source told PTI here.

IndiGo had last Friday — when it cancelled 1,600 flights of its total 2,300 daily flights — told DGCA that “the operational challenges mainly erupted due to revised phase-2 Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) and that it could adequately anticipated, crew planning and rostering preparedness were insufficient in widespread disruption”.

The committee has been told to submit its report within 15 days.

The new norms, applicable to all domestic carriers, have come into force in two phases — July 1 and November 1 this year.

IndiGo has already temporarily secured major relaxations in the second phase norms till February 10.

The latest FDTL norms, which entail increased weekly rest periods to 48 hours, extended night hours, and limiting the number of night landings to only two against six earlier, were initially opposed by domestic airlines, including IndiGo and Tata Group-owned Air India.

But they were subsequently rolled out by the DGCA following the Delhi High Court’s directives, albeit with a delay of over one year, in a phased manner, and with certain variations for airlines like IndiGo and Air India.

The norms were originally to be put in place from March 2024, but airlines, including IndiGo, sought a step-by-step implementation, citing additional crew requirements.

IndiGo chiefs file replies to DGCA show-cause notices 

IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers and COO Isidre Porqueras have filed replies to the show-cause notices issued by the aviation safety regulator DGCA over the airline’s massive flight disruptions, an airline source said on Monday.

The two top executives of the airline were given until 6 pm on Monday to file replies to the notices.

“Chief Executive Officer Pieter Elbers and Chief Operating Officer Isidre Porqueras have filed replies to the show cause notice,” an IndiGo source confirmed to PTI.

The content of the response, however, was not immediately known.

The DGCA on Saturday had issued show cause notices to IndiGo’s CEO and COO seeking explanations within 24 hours on the massive flight disruptions.

The deadline was later extended to Monday, 6 pm, after the airline sought more time from the regulator.

“...as the CEO, you are responsible for ensuring effective management of the airline, but you have failed in your duty to ensure timely arrangements for conduct of reliable operations and the availability of requisite facilities to the passengers,” the regulator said in the notice sent to Elbers.

The notices mentioned that the primary cause of the flight disruptions is the non-provisioning of adequate arrangements to cater to the revised requirements for smooth implementation of the approved FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitations) scheme for the airline.