Gandhi said it is ordinary Indians who pay the price in delays, cancellations and helplessness.
IndiGo's CEO, Pieter Elbers, announced that the airline has stabilized operations after recent disruptions, focusing on resilience, root-cause analysis, and rebuilding. The airline had to cancel hundreds of flights due to planning issues linked to new pilot duty rules, crew shortages, winter weather and operational bottlenecks.
IndiGo has processed refunds totalling Rs 610 crore and delivered 3,000 pieces of baggage to passengers after recent flight disruptions, according to the government.
A bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela also asked how could other airlines take advantage of the crisis situation and charge hefty sums for tickets from the passengers.
The Delhi High Court agreed to hear a plea regarding mass flight cancellations by IndiGo, while the Supreme Court acknowledged the chaos as a 'serious matter'. IndiGo has cancelled 500 flights, leaving many passengers stranded.
The country's largest airline IndiGo, which faced massive operational disruptions earlier this month, saw its domestic market share slide to 63.6 per cent in November, according to official data. Air India Group, comprising Air India and Air India Express, and SpiceJet had their respective market shares in November rise to 26.7 per cent and 3.7 per cent, respectively.
Indigo airlines cancelled 13 flights from Hyderabad airport, causing chaos and frustration among passengers. The cancellations were attributed to technology and operational issues.
The airline announced that it will fully refund all bookings cancelled between December 5 and December 15 and will offer a waiver on all cancellation and rescheduling requests.
The compensation would be in addition to the amount that needs to be provided to passengers for flight cancellations under DGCA norms.
In another development, aviation safety regulator DGCA in an order on Sunday late evening extended the time by Monday 6 pm for IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers and Chief Operating Officer and Accountable Manager Isidro Porqueras to submit reply to its show cause notice over the ongoing disruptions in the airline's operations.
Domestic carrier IndiGo has cancelled over 180 flights from three major airports on Thursday, as the Gurugram-based airline struggles to secure the required crew to operate its flights in the wake of new flight-duty and rest-period norms for pilots.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation-appointed panel investigating the flight disruptions at IndiGo is likely to summon the airline's CEO Pieter Elbers and Chief Operating Officer Isidre Porqueras on Wednesday as part of the ongoing probe, according to a source on Monday.
Union Minister Pralhad Joshi assures that the Indian government is prepared to bring back Indians stranded in the Gulf region due to the Iran-Israel conflict and disruptions in Dubai, emphasizing citizen safety as the top priority.
Not meaning to miss the important day, the couple appeared on a large screen at the venue through video conferencing from Bhubaneswar, greeted the guests and apologised for not being personally present.
An IndiGo Airlines aircraft made an emergency landing in Varanasi after a note claiming a bomb was found on board. Security agencies investigated the threat.
Heavy rainfall in Mumbai on Sunday led to significant disruptions, including a one-hour suspension of flight operations at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, widespread waterlogging, and multiple treefall incidents. One person died in Kurla due to a tree collapse, marking the second such fatality in a week. The India Meteorological Department had issued a 'red' alert, with several areas recording over 200 mm of rain.
A passenger in Lucknow allegedly caused a false bomb alert on a train at Aishbagh station because he couldn't find a seat. The hoax triggered panic and a multi-agency security check, but no suspicious objects were found. The accused, Saini Jackie, has been taken into custody, and legal proceedings are underway.
Indian benchmark stock indices, Sensex and Nifty, advanced for the second consecutive day, driven by softening crude oil prices and a positive trend in global markets. Despite some profit-taking in IT and metal shares, auto stocks outperformed, contributing to the overall gains.
Aviation watchdog DGCA has set up a four-member committee to carry out a comprehensive review and assessment of the circumstances that led to the massive flight disruptions.
IndiGo has seen its pilots' strength depleting by 378 pilots in the last nine months despite its chief operating officer and Accountable Manager, Isidro Porqueras stating to the DGCA in a letter last December that "the overall impact of implementing the proposed changes above (now-implemented FDTL) norms would amount to an approximate 3 per cent increase in crewing requirements.
The Delhi High Court refused to entertain a PIL seeking compensation for passengers affected by IndiGo flight cancellations, citing an ongoing related case.
InterGlobe Aviation, the operator of IndiGo, has approached the Delhi high court seeking a refund of over Rs 900 crore it claims to have paid as Customs duty on aircraft engines and parts re-imported into India after overseas repairs. The petition came up for hearing on Friday before a bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Shail Jain.
Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu on Friday said various operational measures, including keeping new flight duty norms in abeyance, will help address the IndiGo flight disruptions, and complete restoration of services is expected in next three days.
The aviation regulator stated that the "primary cause" of the disruptions was IndiGo's failure to make "adequate arrangements" to meet the revised staffing, duty-time and rostering requirements under the newly implemented Flight Duty Time Limitations scheme.
Long queues, passengers in tears, and repeated flight cancellations created a morning of severe disruption at Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport on Saturday, as IndiGo continued to face nationwide operational delays.
The Supreme Court declined to expedite a hearing regarding the widespread IndiGo flight cancellations, acknowledging the government's intervention in the matter.
Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad received a threat email claiming a 'human bomb' on an IndiGo flight from Jeddah, leading to its diversion to Mumbai where it landed safely. Authorities are investigating the threat.
DGCA provided temporary relief to IndiGo, which is partially owned by Rahul Bhatia, by rolling back the night duty definition to 12 am-5 am from 12 am-6 am earlier, and allowing its pilots to do six night-landings from two earlier, besides other relaxations.
Aviation regulator DGCA intensifies scrutiny of IndiGo following widespread flight cancellations. The airline will offer travel vouchers to affected passengers.
An IndiGo flight from Kuwait to Hyderabad was diverted to Mumbai following a bomb threat email. The flight landed safely, and security checks were conducted.
At Kolga Aabla, the closest beach to her grandmother's home, at the edge of a birch forest, we immersed her balance ashes. It was a sombre, precious day for both of us. But a day that also brought long-needed closure. My mother's spirit, chained for so many years in a Parkinson's-locked body, was free. But my father came back from the beach a visibly older man.
Heavy monsoon rains have severely impacted Mumbai and its surrounding areas, leading to landslides, suspension of train services, and at least 13 fatalities over the past few days. The Mumbai-Pune Expressway was also shut due to a concrete pillar collapse and waterlogging.
The airport received emails on late Sunday night targeting British Airways' (BA 277) from Heathrow, Lufthansa's (LH 752) from Frankfurt and IndiGo's 6E 7178 from Kannur.
IndiGo cancelled over 1,000 flights on Friday and said operations are expected to normalise in the next 10 days, as the country's largest airline received flight duty norms relaxation from watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which will probe the disruptions that have impacted thousands of passengers for four straight days.
The aircraft was taken to a separate bay (Bay No 95) for parking and passengers later safely disembarked. Currently, arrangements are being made to replace the windshield, they said.
With IndiGo cancelling over 1,000 flights on Friday owing to crew shortage as the second phase of the pilots flight duty and rest period norms kicked in, huge capacity was out of the market, leading to airfares tripling and quadrupling from over the normal range, a travel industry executive said.
DRI sleuths at Chennai International Airport seized five kgs of crystal methamphetamine, valued at Rs 5 crore, from a passenger attempting to board a flight to Kuala Lumpur. The passenger has been arrested, and an investigation is underway to uncover the broader drug network.
India on Friday launched a highly coordinated, priority operation to safely guide 13 Indian-flagged commercial vessels out of the volatile Strait of Hormuz, the ministry of ports, shipping, and waterways announced on Friday.
The support will be provided to oil-marketing companies (OMCs) in the form of interest-free advances through the ministry of petroleum and natural gas. The OMCs, in turn, will use the fund to provide ATF price stabilisation support to Indian carriers operating domestic and international flights.
'India is giving selective traffic rights wherever it makes sense to allocate those traffic rights.'
