IndiGo cancels over 60 flights from Bengaluru despite CEO claiming operations stable
Mumbai (PT): IndiGo on Wednesday cancelled over 60 flights from Bengaluru Airport, despite Chief Executive Officer Pieter Elbers claiming on December 9 that the airline's operations were back on track.
IndiGo has cancelled 61 flights on Wednesday, including 35 arrivals and 26 departures, a source said.
On Tuesday, after the government slashed IndiGo's winter flight schedule by 10 per cent or around 220 flights of the nearly 2,200 approved per day, and IndiGo cancelled 460 flights from six metros alone, Elbers claimed that the airline was "back on the feet" and its operations were "stable."
He also said that lakhs of customers have already received their full refunds, without giving any specific numbers, but remained tight-lipped on the issue of compensation to those whose flights were abruptly cancelled, hugely delayed or rescheduled without their consent.
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As per the Civil Aviation Ministry's passenger charter, airlines are liable to pay compensation to passengers for flight delays or cancellations under certain situations. Also, airlines have to provide this compensation automatically without passengers having to request it.
IndiGo has cancelled thousands of flights nationwide after failing to plan for tighter safety regulations, causing severe hardships for passengers, driving up airfares on other domestic carriers and creating chaos across airports pan-India.
After the situation, which started on December 1 continued till December 5, the government finally stepped in with the DGCA issuing show-cause notices to Elbers and IndiGo Chief Operating Officer Isidro Proqueras, who is also the Accountable Manager for the Rahul Bhatia-controlled airline, and also ordered capping of airfares.
On Tuesday, the government ordered a 10 per cent cut in the airline's winter schedule.
"The Ministry considers it necessary to curtail the overall Indigo routes, which will help in stabilising the airline's operations and lead to reduced cancellations. A curtailment of 10 per cent has been ordered. While abiding by it, Indigo will continue to cover all its destinations as before," Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said.
Earlier that day, the DGCA had issued a notice to the airline, ordering a 5 per cent cut in its schedule and asked it to submit the revised plan by Wednesday 5 pm. PTI IAS DR
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President Trump in 'freefall', says fan-turned-critic podcaster Alex Jones
'Advises' Republicans to stay away from Trump while campaigning for midterm polls
Washington DC: Podcaster Alex Jones has reportedly claimed in his programme, 'The Alex Jones Show', that US President Donald Trump was in 'freefall', suggesting that it was best for Republican candidates to distance themselves from the President while campaigning for the upcoming midterm polls.
According to US media agencies, Jones, who was identified as a strong supporter of the President during his first term but a major critic of Trump in the recent months. He has reportedly criticized all of Trump's moves, from the attacks on Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to the President's health, not to mention the government's handling of the documents relating to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
On the Tuesday edition of his show, Jones was found to be all the more vehement in his criticism of Trump, and was heard opining that the President looked sick. “When your ankles swell up three times the size they were before, that means heart failure. And he does look sick. And he does babble and, you know, sound like the brain’s not doing too hot,” said Jones. “And so we just cut bait on Trump, and we just mobilize against the Democrats.”
The podcaster also spoke about his father’s decline due to dementia, adding that Trump too was deteriorating in a similar manner and advising the President to take a holiday.
“Not the man he was that last year. And that– we need to be sad about Trump. This is not funny. This is not good. But he’s gone. And that’s it,” said Jones. “And all the people rallied around him, you can see, [Pete] Hegseth’s freaked out. You can see, the press secretary’s freaked out. They’re being loyal. They think it’s a lesser of two evils. And I, okay, but I just– Trump needs intervention. He needs to take some time off.”
Referring to the approval rate of merely 33 per cent for the President during the new election from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the podcaster pointed out that Trump's popularity had fallen from 56 per cent and advised Republicans to keep away from Trump.
As reported by The Independent, the White House firmly denied in an official statement that Jones' claim that the President's health condition was waning.
“This is a complete b****t story that’s being desperately told to boost podcast views,” spokesperson Davis Ingle said. “The truth is that President Trump is the sharpest and most accessible President in American history who is working nonstop to solve problems and deliver on his promises, and he remains in excellent health.”
The post Alex Jones Says It’s Time to ‘Cut Bait on Trump’ Because the President ‘Is in Free Fall’ is reported to have first appeared on Mediaite.
