NEW DELHI: The Directorate general of Civil Aviation on Wednesday launched a probe into the disruptions caused in IndiGo’s network.DGCA has asked the airline to report to its headquarters and present the facts leading to the current situation.”The inconvenience caused to passengers is regretted. Travellers are advised to verify flight status through official channels before departure. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation is currently investigating the situation and evaluating measures along with the airline, to reduce cancellations and delays, in order to minimise inconvenience being caused to passengers,” DGCA said in a press note. “Indigo has been asked to report to DGCA, Headquarters, to present the facts leading to the current situation along with plans to mitigate the ongoing delays & cancellations,” it added.According to the press note, the airline told DGCA that “a total of 1,232 flights were cancelled” in November. Meanwhile, there were 755 crew constraints and 92 ATC failures.”A large share of cancellations arose from crew / FDTL compliance and airport/ airspace ATC-related factors, many of which lie beyond the operator’s direct control,” the press note said.This comes as IndiGo is witnessing massive flight delays and some cancellations due to a crippling crew shortage. Government data shows only 35% IndiGo flights (the airline operates over 2,200 daily) operated on time Tuesday (Dec 2). And on Wednesday, multiple airports including Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru reported almost 200 flight cancellations till the afternoon itself.Meanwhile, the airline apologised for disruptions, saying it regretted the inconvenience caused to passengers.The airline said the delays and cancellations stemmed from a combination of unexpected operational problems.In an official statement, IndiGo said minor technical glitches, winter schedule adjustments, adverse weather, heavy airport congestion and updated crew rostering rules collectively weakened operations in a way the airline claims it could not have foreseen.
