Indigo 'Profusely' Sorry For Flight Cancellations, Tells DGCA 'Realistically Not Possible To Pinpoint The Exact Causes'

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Hours after IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers and COO Isidre Porqueras responded to a show-cause notice by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the aviation watchdog released a statement providing details of the airline's response.

The DGCA, in its release, confirmed that it had received IndiGo's response to the notice issued over mass flight cancellations.

The aviation watchdog also stated that IndiGo had said that it was "profusely apologetic" for the mass cancellations and deeply regretted the inconvenience and hardship caused to customers.

The DGCA said that IndiGo had attributed the mass cancellations to the "compounding effect of multiple factors," which operated in an "unfortunate and unforeseeable confluence".

IndiGo further stated it was "realistically not possible to pinpoint the exact cause(s)" behind the breakdown of flight operations, saying that complexity and scale of its network made such an exercise challenging.

While pinpointing a single point of failure was difficult, IndiGo told the DGCA that the multiple points of failure were:“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 (Flight Duty Time Limitation Phase II).”

The budget carrier further told the DGCA that the aviation watchdog's manual allowed for a fifteen-day response timeline for show-cause notices, and said that it would require more time for a comprehensive 'Root Cause Analysis' (RCA). The complete RCA will be shared once finished, the airline added.

Summons to CEO, COO

IndiGo response to the DGCA comes on a day when reports said that the aviation watchdog was likely to summon CEO Elbers and COO Porqueras on Wednesday as part of its ongoing probe into the mass flight cancellations that have left thousands of flyers stranded across India's airports.

The likely summons to IndiGo's top executive, as per news agency PTI, will be part of the four-member DGCA panel's probe to determine the reasons behind the disruptions and fix accountability for planning lapses.

The panel, set up on 5 December, consists of Joint DG Sanjay Brahamane, Deputy Director General Amit Gupta, senior Flight Operations Inspector Kapil Manglik, and Flight Operations Inspector Lokesh Rampal.

(This is a developing story. Check back for updates)

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