IndiGo cuts 400-500 flights to achieve ‘full stabilisation of schedule’

Indian low-cost airline IndiGo has decided to cut 400-500 flights to achieve “full stabilisation of schedule” to ensure passengers can fly with certainty.

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The airline will now operate 1,800-1,900 flights instead of 2,300 flights it used to operate daily.

The decision comes hours after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) ordered IndiGo to slash 5%, or nearly 115 flights, “as it failed to demonstrate the ability to operate all its flights”.

In a recorded video statement, the company’s CEO Pieter Elbers said the airline’s operations are “fully stabilised which means the flights reflecting on our website are scheduled to operate with an adjusted network”.

Passengers will be intimated about cancellations 72 hours in advance, officials told The Hindu.

As of yesterday (December 8), we are back to flying to all the 138 destinations in our network and our on-time-performance (OTP) is also normalised, Mr. Elbers said.

IndiGo had earlier informed the DGCA and the Ministry of Civil Aviation that the disruptions stemmed from “planning gaps and a misjudgment” in estimating crew requirements under the government’s revised norms governing night flying for pilots, including for the first time capping the number of landings allowed per night shift to two in response to concerns over mounting fatigue.

As per the airline’s own submission, it currently has 65 fewer captains than required — 2,357 available against the 2,422 needed to comply with the new rule that came into effect from November 1 and snowballed into a major crisis for the airline a month later.