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."
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.
'The CCI will first need to take a prima facie view on whether IndiGo's role warrants a detailed investigation.'
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 officer has been banned from taking any domestic, international or non-scheduled flights operated by the airline during this period, they added.
'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.'
SpiceJet on Sunday said a senior Army officer, who was to board a flight to Delhi, assaulted four airline ground staffers at the Srinagar airport on July 26, and one of them suffered a spinal fracture.
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.
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.
According to sources, the crisis-ridden airline cancelled 137 flights at Delhi airport and 21 services at Mumbai airport.
India's largest airline IndiGo on Thursday reported a 78 per cent decline in December quarter net profit at Rs 549.1 crore as flight disruptions and implementation of the new labour code took a toll on its earnings. The airline reported a net profit of Rs 549.1 crore in the October-December quarter, compared with Rs 2,448.8 crore earnings in the year-ago period, according to a company statement.
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.
India's duopoly in the domestic skies -- where IndiGo and Air India collectively control over 90 per cent of the market -- is highly skewed, leaving very little room for new players
The Delhi High Court refused to entertain a PIL seeking compensation for passengers affected by IndiGo flight cancellations, citing an ongoing related case.
The DGCA has formed two specialised teams to internally monitor IndiGo's daily operations.
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.
India's aviation safety ratings have been downgraded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) from the top to the second category, which would affect expansion of flights by Indian carriers to the United States.
'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.'
'The real story of 2025 is that India officially stopped being a 'market of the future' and started acting as the world's primary economic engine.'
Gandhi said it is ordinary Indians who pay the price in delays, cancellations and helplessness.
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.
Indigo airlines cancelled 13 flights from Hyderabad airport, causing chaos and frustration among passengers. The cancellations were attributed to technology and operational issues.
One of the major concerns highlighted by the DGCA was about the fact that not all staff had completed mandatory fatigue management training.
Soon after the takeoff, the pilot of ill-fated Air India aircraft gave a Mayday call to the Ahmedabad air traffic controller.
India's market regulator is moving ahead to include real estate investment trusts (Reits) in benchmark indices in a phased manner, Sebi chief Tuhin Kanta Pandey said, while asserting that the regulator was working to strengthen the link between infrastructure building and the markets.
Aviation regulator DGCA has issued four show cause notices to Air India for various violations related to cabin crew rest and duty norms, cabin crew training rules and operational procedures, a month after the airline made certain voluntary disclosures to the watchdog.
Where was the Board when a predictable regulatory change brought the country's largest airline to its knees? asks Dr Sudhir Bisht.
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.
The DGCA has issued multiple fines and warnings to Air India over the past three years, flagging serious concerns in flight operations, cockpit discipline, and internal accountability.
'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?'
The trails of mega-mergers, tailwinds of expanding fleets, flights and airports will dot the fast-growing Indian aviation firmament in 2025, though the dark clouds of supply chain woes will persist longer. Also, new airline takeoffs, the future trajectory of revised norms to tackle pilot fatigue and efforts to reduce carbon emissions will be on the radar.
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.
The Navi Mumbai International Airport will be inaugurated on October 8, Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani said on Wednesday. The airport, which received the aerodrome licence from aviation safety regulator DGCA on Tuesday, is being developed in multiple phases.
The Supreme Court has criticized the selective publication of a preliminary report on the Air India crash, calling it 'unfortunate and irresponsible'. The court raised concerns about privacy, dignity of victims' families, and the potential for biased narratives.
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.
Father of deceased pilot and Federation of Indian Pilots petition Supreme Court for a court-monitored inquiry into the Air India flight AI171 crash in Ahmedabad.
'They are saying that there is a pilot shortage which is not correct, but if it was true, did they suddenly come to know this on December 5?' 'If they didn't have crew, why did they seek approval for a winter schedule? To get the approval, the operator has to show crew strength and also a buffer of crew available.' 'If they had a crew crunch, why did they ask for extra flights? Or was it something else that made them so sure that they would get away with this exemption and bans?'
Aviation watchdog DGCA has granted IndiGo a six-month extension to operate two leased Boeing 777 aircraft from Turkish Airlines, subject to certain conditions. This decision comes after a previous extension and amidst geopolitical considerations.
The helicopter carrying a total of seven people, including the pilot, crashed on the Rishikesh-Gangotri National Highway at around 8:45 am.
