DGCA officials to conduct on-site inspections of IndiGo operations across 11 airports

Mumbai: Senior officials of aviation safety watchdog DGCA will carry out on-site inspections across 11 domestic airports in the next two-three days to assess various aspects of IndiGo operations amid large-scale disruptions, an official order said on Wednesday.

The 11 airports include Nagpur, Jaipur, Bhopal, Surat, Tirupati, Vijayawada, Shirdi, Cochin, Lucknow, Amritsar and Dehradun.

All assigned officers will visit their respective airports within the next 2-3 days, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said in its order.

These officials have been directed to submit a comprehensive report to the Director of Operations for the flight safety department at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation in New Delhi within 24 hours of their visit, the order said.

"In view of passenger inconvenience caused due to large-scale disruptions in the operations of IndiGo Airlines at various airports across the country, it has been decided that DGCA officers shall carry out immediate on-site inspections at the 11 airports," the DGCA order read.

The purpose of these inspections is to assess safety, operational preparedness, passenger facilitation measures, and airline responsiveness during the ongoing disruption, the DGCA said.

The officials, it said, will examine operational and safety aspects, status of flight delays and cancellations, congestion at terminal areas, queue management at check-in, security and boarding gates, and adequacy of airline and airport operational manpower.

It will also examine manning of airline help desks on a 24x7 basis, information dissemination to passengers regarding delays, cancellations and alternate arrangements, apart from carrying out additional checks on special assistance for senior citizens, children, pregnant women and dedicated help desks manned by IndiGo staff, it stated.

The latest order came hours after the DGCA announced setting up an oversight team of eight senior officers and said two members of the team will be stationed at the IndiGo corporate office to monitor the status of domestic and international cancellations, refund status, on-time performance, compensation to the passengers as per the civil aviation requirement and baggage return.

IndiGo has been facing the heat from the government as well as travellers since the beginning of this month for cancelling thousands of flights due to crew shortage, affecting passengers in large numbers across various airports. The disruptions began after the implementation of a new crew rostering rule that allows increased rest time for pilots and other staff. The government has now put on hold the new Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms to allow airlines more time.

Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday questioned the central government for not taking timely action to check the crisis caused by IndiGo flight cancellations and asked why the situation was allowed to precipitate, with lakhs of passengers stranded and other airlines charging hefty fares.

The high court said that besides the trouble and harassment caused to the stranded passengers, it is a question of the losses caused to the country's economy.

The court was hearing a PIL filed by advocates Akhil Rana and Utkarsh Sharma seeking a judicial inquiry into the IndiGo crisis. The plea also sought fair compensation to people whose flights were cancelled and relief for people stuck at the airports.