IndiGo pulls out 30 flights, says cancellations to continue
Mumbai, Feb 12: Shortage of pilots continued to hamper operations of IndiGo with the budget carrier Tuesday cancelling as many as 30 flights from across major airports and passengers allegedly being forced to buy last minute tickets at high fares, a source said.
The airline said flight cancellations will continue for some more days, affecting around 30 flights per day.
On Monday also, the airline had pulled out 32 flights from its network at short notice inconveniencing tens of hundreds of passengers.
Acknowledging the disruption in its services, the airline said, it will "slightly adjust" its schedules in the coming days, impacting about 30 flights per day.
Meanwhile, a senior official said aviation regulator DGCA is looking into the "issue."
"IndiGo is slightly adjusting its flight schedule in the coming days by around 30 flights per day to stabilise the network and operations impacted due to various ongoing Notams and likely bad weather in the coming days," the airline said in a statement after the PTI story went on wire.
Notam, or notice to airmen, is given to pilots and include information on potential hazards on a flight route.
IndiGo has cancelled 30 flights Tuesday due to the on-going pilot shortages. Most flights have been cancelled from Kolkata, Hyderabad and Chennai, a source told PTI earlier in the day.
While eight flights were not operated from Kolkata, another five flights were cancelled from Hyderabad and four each from Bangalore and Chennai among others,the source added.
The source also alleged that IndiGo was forcing passengers to either buy last minute tickets on its flights or offering them alternate flights with one-stop connectivity with a long layover time.
"To avoid inconvenience, these adjustments are being made in advance, enabling adequate notice to passengers. They are being accommodated close to their original flight schedule. These adjustments amount to 1-2 percent of the originally planned flights," IndiGo said in the statement.
An airline official said the disruption in the flight operations emanated from the heavy rains and hailstorm that hit the Delhi-NCR region last week and subsequent FDTL issue.
Both the pilots and cabin crew are governed by DGCA mandated flight duty and time limitation (FDTL) norms and they can't fly beyond the FDTL.
The airline had Sunday blamed bad weather for disruptions in operations across its network.
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Officials instructed to make sure no untoward incident during Bengaluru IPL match: Home Minister
Bengaluru (PTI): Home Minister G Parameshwara on Wednesday said that preparations have been made for the inaugural IPL match at Bengaluru's Chinnaswamy stadium on March 28, and the instructions have been given to police, the authorities and KSCA, which manages the venue, to ensure that there are no untoward incidents.
He also complimented the KSCA for installing a memorial plaque at the stadium in the honour of those killed in the stampede during the Royal Challengers Bengaluru's (RCB) IPL victory celebration on June 4 last year.
Eleven people were killed, and a number of people were injured in the stampede outside the stadium, following which matches were stopped at the venue.
"The government has allowed the match to be held on March 28. All the corrections that were required have been done by the KSCA. The committee formed by the government, consisting of officials from the police, Greater Bengaluru Authority and other departments, is satisfied with the measures implemented by KSCA," Parameshwara said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said that police, KSCA and RCB have made all the necessary preparations for the IPL's inaugural match here on March 28.
"Also, necessary instructions have been given to ensure that untoward incidents don't repeat, and they too have agreed to it," he added.
Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2026 opener in Bengaluru on March 28.
Parameshwara said, following the tragedy during RCB's IPL victory celebrations, KSCA and the government had to face a lot of criticism globally. The government intervened and took several measures, including constituting the Justice John Michael Cunha Commission to look into the lapses.
After the commission submitted a report with recommendations, the government asked the KSCA to implement them, he said. "There are long and short-term recommendations. Since the KSCA made corrections as per recommendations, the matches have been permitted," he added.
