The Delhi High Court on Wednesday reprimanded the central government over the IndiGo crisis. The court questioned what the government did when the airline failed. It asked how flight ticket prices surged from Rs. 4,000-5,000 to Rs. 30,000, and how other airlines took advantage of the situation. "What action did you take? You allowed the situation to reach this point," the court said.

A division bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking an independent judicial inquiry into the IndiGo crisis and compensation for passengers whose flights were cancelled or who were stranded at airports.

During the hearing, the court stated that this is not just a matter concerning individual passengers, but it has also caused economic losses to the country. The government must ensure that such a situation does not recur in the future.

Meanwhile, the DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) has summoned IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers for a meeting at 3 PM on Thursday.

Government says DGCA will also be investigated

The DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) is also now under the scanner of the central government regarding the IndiGo crisis. Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said in an interview that not only IndiGo but also the functioning of the DGCA will be investigated regarding the airline's failures. The minister apologized for the inconvenience caused to passengers and said that strict and appropriate action will be taken against those responsible.

The minister said that IndiGo's major failure does not seem like a normal mistake, but rather indicates deliberate negligence. He said the government is investigating why such a crisis occurred at that particular time and how the situation deteriorated despite ongoing operations.

On the question of removing the CEO, Naidu said that he will be removed if necessary. All necessary legal action will be taken. Naidu also said that he has been holding continuous meetings for the past seven days and has barely slept, as the focus is solely on resolving the passengers' problems. IndiGo claimed to have 403 aircraft and secured 6% more flights.

The DGCA stated that there is a significant discrepancy between IndiGo's declared operating capacity and the actual number of aircraft it is using. This means the company is not operating as many aircraft as it claims to be capable of.

According to the DGCA, IndiGo secured a 6% larger winter schedule by claiming to have 403 aircraft, but only 339 aircraft were operational in October and 344 in November. In November, only 59,438 flights operated out of the scheduled 64,346, a shortfall of 4,900 flights.

They further explained that while there is already pressure on the system during the winter months, the company scheduled 9.66% more flights in the winter schedule that began on October 26th compared to the previous year, even though it could not demonstrate the capacity to handle this increase. This added extra burden on the system.

Due to new safety regulations in the aviation sector, India's largest airline, IndiGo, is facing a crew shortage for the third consecutive day. This has severely impacted IndiGo's operations. According to news agency PTI, more than 300 IndiGo flights were canceled on Thursday at over 10 airports, including Delhi and Mumbai.

A passenger at Pune airport reported waiting for more than eight hours. Both floors of the airport were crowded with passengers, and three passengers even fainted. The airline was not sending any messages regarding the flight cancellations.

At Delhi airport today, a total of 95 IndiGo flights were canceled. These included 48 domestic and international flights departing from Delhi and 47 arriving flights. Similarly, 86 flights were canceled in Mumbai, 50 in Bengaluru, 70 in Hyderabad, 4 in Jaipur, and 3 in Indore.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has changed the safety regulations related to the working hours of pilots and other crew members for all airlines, effective November 1st. This has had the biggest impact on IndiGo. On Thursday, IndiGo officials met with the DGCA to discuss the matter.

IndiGo has the most planes, hence the biggest impact

The airline operates approximately 2,300 domestic and international flights daily. This number is almost double the number of flights operated by Air India in a day. On such a large scale, even if 10-20 percent of flights are delayed or canceled, it means 200-400 flights are affected, causing major difficulties for thousands of passengers. On Wednesday, more than 200 IndiGo flights were also affected.

Now, understand the new DGCA rules

The DGCA has changed the rules related to the working hours of pilots and other crew members, effective November 1st. This is called Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL). These rules have been implemented in two phases. The first phase was implemented on July 1st.

The second phase came into effect on November 1st. The new rules emphasize providing adequate rest to pilots and crew to enhance passenger safety. This has resulted in a sudden shortage of pilots and crew members for airline companies. The DGCA stated that a total of 1,232 IndiGo flights were canceled in November, including 755 due to the new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) rules.

IndiGo says the situation will normalize by December 5th

The airline issued a statement on Wednesday, saying that minor technical glitches, schedule changes due to winter, bad weather, slow network in the aviation system, and the new rules related to crew members' shift charts (Flight Duty Time Limitation) have adversely affected operations. This was not possible to anticipate beforehand. The situation will normalize by December 5th.

IndiGo officials met with the DGCA

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had asked IndiGo on Wednesday for details of the reasons for the current problems and the plan to address them. The DGCA said it is investigating the matter and assessing ways to reduce flight cancellations and delays. Airline officials met with the DGCA on Thursday.

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According to the DGCA, the shortage of crew is the main reason. This problem has been ongoing at IndiGo since last month. 1232 of its flights were canceled in November. On Tuesday, 1400 flights were delayed.