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Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu on Friday held IndiGo's mismanagement regarding its crew, with respect to the new flight duty time limitation (FDTL) regulations issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), responsible for the disruption of its operations, leading to severe delays and congestion at the major airports across the country.
Speaking to ANI, he said the events that have unfolded in major airports led the Civil Aviation Ministry to grant IndiGo a certain abeyance from FDTL norms to ensure normalcy. "From November 1, the DGCA came up with new FDTL (flight duty time limitation) regulations. The Ministry also initiated a continuous engagement process with the airlines for at least 6 months. Previously, there was no issue regarding the new FDTL norm. Other airlines, including Air India and Spice Jet, have adjusted. However, what has unfolded is due to mismanagement by IndiGo regarding its crew. We have given certain abeyance regarding FDTL norms to IndiGo to ensure normalcy," Naidu said. He said a committee has been formed to look into the disruption and inquire where things went wrong. Whoever is responsible for the present situation needs to pay for it, he added. "Since we have observed this only with IndiGo, we have formed a committee which will inquire into all this so that they can establish where things went wrong and who did it wrong. We will take the necessary action on that as well. This thing shouldn't be left unattended. We are taking strict action on this, so that whoever was responsible for this needs to pay for it," Naidu said. The immediate priority of the Civil Aviation Ministry remains to bring back normalcy and provide necessary support to passengers, the Minister said. "The immediate priority for us is to bring back normalcy and provide all the support to the passengers. Five lakh people travel by air every day. We are closely monitoring this and the FDTL norms and scheduling the network. We will thoroughly investigate this and ensure that all airlines exercise due diligence. We can't compromise on safety," Naidu said. "The Civil Aviation Ministry has been actively engaging with all the stakeholders on the ground ever since IndiGo faced major operational issues (from December 3), leading to delays and cancellations. We want to reduce all the inconvenience passengers have been facing at the airports. We also want to ensure safe operations in the country," he added. Naidu informed that the Civil Aviation Ministry had instructed IndiGo to take necessary steps to ensure that normalcy returns within two days. However, he said, delays kept happening, which is why the airline was asked to cancel major operations to reduce congestion at the airport. "Initially, when a lot of delays happened with the IndiGo operations, we told them to take all necessary steps to ensure normalcy within two days. However, we saw delays happening yesterday as well. Therefore, we told IndiGo to cancel major operations so that the inconvenience at the airport and the congestion due to delays are reduced," Naidu said. "Today, the focus remained on clearing backlogs of the last two days. We have instructed airport and airline operators to give priority to senior citizens and differently-abled passengers who are facing challenges. Food, water and necessary accommodation must be taken care of," he added. The Civil Aviation Ministry has instructed people on the ground interacting with passengers to remain empathetic and communicate effectively, owing to the latter's frustration with the delays. Naidu said that the situation due to Indigo flight delays and cancellations is improving, and that there won't be any waiting at airports from tomorrow. "Today, we are seeing that the situation is getting better. The backlog that has been there for the last two days has been cleared. Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai airports have been cleared. From tomorrow, we are expecting normalcy to start in the sense that there won't be any congestion, or there won't be any waiting at the airports. Whatever operations IndiGo can start immediately; they will start them," the Minister said. IndiGo's dominant market share of almost 70% has raised concerns about a monopoly. The recent cancellation of over 500 flights has stranded thousands of passengers, sparking outrage in Parliament. The DGCA has attributed the disruptions to IndiGo's "misjudgment and gap in planning" in implementing new pilot duty-hour regulations. The centre has directed airlines to implement measures to resolve the disruptions and ensure passenger refunds. IndiGo has been granted a one-time exemption from the DGCA's pilot night duty rules until February 10, 2026. This exemption allows IndiGo to bypass stricter flight duty and rest period norms, specifically those related to night duty between 0000 and 0650 hours and to night operations. The DGCA has also withdrawn the rule that restricted airlines from counting pilot leave as weekly rest. The exemption is aimed at stabilising IndiGo's operations and reducing passenger disruptions caused by the airline's pilot staffing crunch. However, the Airlines' Pilots Association (ALPA) of India has criticised the decision, arguing that it sets a dangerous precedent and undermines established safety regulations. (ANI)
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