Air India grounded a Boeing 787-8 after a pilot reported a potential fuel control switch defect. The incident occurs amidst an ongoing investigation into the airline's Dreamliner crash last June.
Aviation regulator DGCA intensifies scrutiny of IndiGo following widespread flight cancellations. The airline will offer travel vouchers to affected passengers.
Aviation safety regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday said it has received IndiGo's response to the show cause notice issued over the large-scale flight cancellations and will take enforcement action.
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.
Pilots' body the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) has alleged that IndiGo, despite getting a two-year preparatory window before the full implementation of new flight duty and rest period norms for cockpit crew, "inexplicably" adopted a "hiring freeze."
According to sources, the crisis-ridden airline cancelled 137 flights at Delhi airport and 21 services at Mumbai airport.
The DGCA has formed two specialised teams to internally monitor IndiGo's daily operations.
Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu said the government has initiated an inquiry into Indigo's mass flight cancellations and will take strict action against the operator to set an example for other airlines.
Pilots' body Airlines' Pilots Association (ALPA) India on Friday took 'strong' objection to safety regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)'s 'selective and unsafe' relief to domestic carrier IndiGo, amid widescale cancellations, saying the decision sets a dangerous precedent.
The board of InterGlobe Aviation, the parent of IndiGo, has already set up a crisis management group in the wake of the significant operational disruptions that started on December 2.
Aviation watchdog DGCA stations personnel at IndiGo's headquarters to monitor flight cancellations, crew deployment, and operational disruptions after thousands of flights were cancelled, causing passenger inconvenience.
Rourkela SP Nitesh Wadhwani said there were four passengers, including two women and two pilots, in the aircraft. Captain Naveen and Captain Tarun were piloting the plane, he said.
Fair trade watchdog Competition Commission of India (CCI) is examining whether the country's largest airline, IndiGo, violated competition norms, a senior official said on Friday amid the carrier facing regulatory scrutiny over significant flight disruptions.
Civil aviation authorities have directed Turkish Airlines to ensure 'full compliance' with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) regulations, an official statement said on Wednesday.
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.
Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Tuesday said Air India's Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, which faced fuel control switch glitch, took off from London on February 1 after the crew carried out a physical check of the switch and that no abnormal parameters were observed during start of the engine or thereafter.
Indigo airlines cancelled 13 flights from Hyderabad airport, causing chaos and frustration among passengers. The cancellations were attributed to technology and operational issues.
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.
Union Minister assures accountability after IndiGo flight cancellations cause widespread passenger distress and mental harassment. The DGCA has launched an inquiry and issued a notice to IndiGo.
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 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.
Indian equities declined on Friday, with the benchmark Nifty posting its worst weekly fall since September, as foreign investor sentiment remained weak amid tepid earnings growth and little progress on the India-US trade front.
GPS spoofing occurs when fake satellite signals are transmitted to an aircraft's navigation system, confusing pilots or onboard systems about the plane's actual position or altitude. Such false signals pose a serious safety risk, especially during landing.
The Supreme Court declined to expedite a hearing regarding the widespread IndiGo flight cancellations, acknowledging the government's intervention in the matter.
IndiGo is operating 1,650 flights of its 2,300 daily domestic and international flights on Sunday, and 650 remain cancelled for the day, amid the airline's operations gradually stabilising after massive disruptions in the last five days, the airline said.
Apart from the Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) exemptions, the regulator has provided certain other relaxations that will help IndiGo have more pilots for duty to reduce the disruptions and normalise operations.
Aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)'s chief Faiz Ahmed Kidwai on Friday requested the cooperation of all pilots to ensure smooth flight operations amid massive IndiGo flight disruptions.
'Where rostering systems are automated and duty time software interfaces directly with DGCA, the assertion that they suddenly discovered crew shortages is simply implausible.' 'If adequate crew planning hasn't materialised within 12 to 24 months from inception, how will 45 days -- from December 5 to February 12 -- suddenly resolve matters?'
One of the major concerns highlighted by the DGCA was about the fact that not all staff had completed mandatory fatigue management training.
'The CCI will first need to take a prima facie view on whether IndiGo's role warrants a detailed investigation.'
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 cost of any flight from Delhi and Mumbai could rise by up to Rs 3,000 soon unless the airport regulator is able to reverse a court order.
The Delhi High Court refused to entertain a PIL seeking compensation for passengers affected by IndiGo flight cancellations, citing an ongoing related case.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is probing the incident reported on November 26. The regulator had asked the airline to carry out an internal probe to fix the responsibility and ensure that such incidents do not occur in the future.
'I don't think it is right to remove him over one lapse. The focus should be on restoring operations, not on removing a key management personnel.'
'IndiGo will receive a sharp rap on the knuckles -- a punishment, a huge penalty. 'I look towards them creating a compensation fund.' 'I would like to think they would do that for all the passengers who are affected on every single day since cancellations began.'
Where was the Board when a predictable regulatory change brought the country's largest airline to its knees? asks Dr Sudhir Bisht.
'It has got to be the biggest error in aviation. If it is the biggest error, then all those individuals in positions of power should be removed because they have caused the biggest meltdown in Indian aviation history.'
According to the latest data from the aviation regulator DGCA, IndiGo and Air India did not cancel any flights, while Air India Express cancelled four flights due to the system modification process.
Ariana Afghan Airlines A310 aircraft operating flight FG-311 (Kabul-Delhi) was given clearance to land on runway 29L. However, the aircraft landed on runway 29R.
