IndiGo crisis | Opposition demands statement from government

New Delhi: Amid massive flight disruption leading to large-scale inconvenience to people and soaring airfares, Opposition on Monday demanded a statement by Civil Aviation Minister K Ram Mohan Naidu in Parliament on what is happening and what led to such a situation, prompting Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to say that a statement will be made by Tuesday.

As soon as the Question Hour ended, Congress Lok Sabha Whip Manickam Tagore and others were on their feet referring to the cancellation of services by IndiGo and soaring airfares. MPs asked what was happening and the government should immediately give a clarity to the country on the steps taken by them.

Birla then asked one of the MPs to raise the issue following which Congress Deputy Leader Gaurav Gogoi made the demand for a statement from the Minister.

"Why is it that a large number of people have to face hardships in airports in the last few days? Some of them were dialysis patients, others were going for weddings and some were going to meet their elderly (parents). There was a lot of trouble," Gogoi said.

"People are losing money. We were told that people wearing 'hawai chappals' (sandals) can now fly on 'hawai jahaaz' (planes). But today, the flight tickets are expensive, costing Rs 20,000. The coffee at the airport cost Rs 250. There are delays in flights. The government should tell the nation what is happening," he said.

Birla said the Minister was in Rajya Sabha and if they wish, he could make a detailed statement on the issue either today (Monday) or Tuesday.

IndiGo services had gone into a tailspin in the past few days following the airline struggling with its rostering of pilots in line with new norms of Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) that mandated 48 hours of uninterrupted rest for pilots.

While the airline is crawling back to normalcy in services, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has constituted a probe into the reasons for the collapse of IndiGo’s services. It has also issued show-cause notices to the top officials of the airline.