For the last four days, passengers of Indigo Airlines are facing a lot of problems. Due to negligence in implementing the new rules issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), IndiGo’s flight schedule has been disrupted, causing a lot of trouble to the passengers. Due to the new DGCA rules, IndiGo has been facing shortage of crew members – pilots, air hostesses and other flight staff – for the last four days. Now they have a shortage of pilots to carry passengers.
The situation is such that hundreds of flights have been canceled at many airports including Delhi, Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad and are running late by several hours. More than 1,000 flights were canceled on Friday alone. In a video message released on Friday, IndiGo CEO Peter Albers said the airline has been facing difficulties over the past few days, with operations most affected on December 5. More than 1,000 flights were canceled on Friday. Passengers had to wait for 20 hours at the airport. These passengers did not get any help from IndiGo, nor could they get correct information about the flight. The situation at some airports became so bad that clashes broke out between passengers and IndiGo airline staff over food, water and essential items. The reason for this problem being faced by air passengers is some new rules issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Indigo implemented these rules without any preparation or proper planning, which created chaos.
Which rules of DGCA were negligent in implementing?
Under the new rules of DGCA, it was necessary to give two days leave to the flight staff after working for seven consecutive days. The maximum number of night landings was reduced from six to two. Night landing means the number of times the flight staff landed at different airports during the night shift. Additionally, flight staff were instructed not to work night shifts for more than two consecutive nights. A rule was made for pilots to rest for at least 24 hours after long flights. The timing of night shift was also changed from 5 am earlier to 12 am to 6 am.
The effect of implementing these rules was that the number of pilots and crew in Indigo Airlines suddenly reduced. This disrupted the flight schedule, making the situation worse. DGCA rules apply to all airlines, and all have gradually adopted them. However, this chaos happened in IndiGo because it is the largest airline of India.
Indigo operates the maximum number of flights in the country. It is worth noting that Indigo Airlines operates 2,300 flights daily, which is almost double the number of flights of Air India. IndiGo’s market share in domestic flights is 64 percent, while the second largest airline Air India has a market share of 27 percent. In a way, Indigo Airlines dominates the domestic market. The problem was that after the implementation of the new rules, IndiGo’s pilots and flight staff fell short of the number of flights required. IndiGo implemented the rules but did not pay attention to the number of pilots and other staff required. This lack of planning caused problems to air passengers. However, in view of the difficulties faced by the passengers, the government gave Indigo a few days’ time and formed a committee of four members to investigate this negligence.
Air ticket prices increased 10 times
Due to this chaos, it has become more difficult and expensive for air passengers to reach their destination. Air tickets from Delhi to Jaipur have reached Rs 88,000. The flight fare from Delhi to Mumbai has reached Rs 70,000. This means that the airfare has increased 10 times. This means air travelers are either stranded at the airport or paying 10 times the price to buy a ticket. And the big news is that this problem will be solved in the next 5 to 10 days.
