IndiGo crisis | Airline responds to DGCA's show-cause notices; seeks more time to 'reply in detail'

New Delhi: IndiGo on Monday sought more time from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to respond to its show-cause notices to its top officials on disruption in its services, claiming that it is "realistically not possible to pinpoint the exact cause(s)" within a short span of time even as it was "profusely apologetic" about the hardship caused to passengers.

The civil aviation regulator had on Saturday issued notices to IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers and Chief Operating Office Isidre Porqueras on the massive cancellation of flights owing to the implementation of new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FTDL) norms. The initial response signed by both the CEO and COO were submitted to the DGCA on Monday 6:01 pm after a 24-hour extension given to them to reply.

A DGCA statement said the IndiGo was "profusely apologetic" and "deeply regrets" the inconvenience and hardship caused to customers while attributing the disruption to the "compounding effect of multiple factors," which operated in an "unfortunate and unforeseeable confluence".

The airline has sought more time for reply in detail saying it is "realistically not possible to pinpoint the exact cause(s)" at this time due to the complexity and vast scale of operations. They said the DGCA's manual allows a 15-day response timeline for show-cause notices, suggesting more time is needed to conduct a comprehensive 'Root Cause Analysis' (RCA).

On the "preliminary contributing factors", the DGCA said the airline suggested that disruption resulted from a combination of the following factors, which coincided in lesser or greater measure. It included "minor technical glitches, schedule changes linked to the start of the winter season, adverse weather conditions, increased congestion in the aviation system and implementation of and operation under the updated crew rostering rules".

IndiGo also said they had been "engaging with the DGCA regarding challenges in implementing the Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) Phase II and were seeking variations, exemptions, or extensions.

"The disruptions began in early December when the compounding factors resulted in a lower On-Time Network Performance, which affected crew availability," it said.

The airline also said it took the "drastic measure" of "rebooting" the network by taking a significant number of cancellations to recover stranded customers, ease airport congestion, and reposition crew/aircraft.

"This allowed services to progressively restore and normalize starting December 6," the airline said.

IndiGo also claimed they have provided timely notifications and facilitations -- meals and refreshments, hotels and local transport. Substantial refunds have been processed for most affected customers. DGCA said DGCA is in the process of examination the response and enforcement action as deemed appropriate will be taken in due course.