San Francisco
India has experienced the biggest airline IndiGo which has been experiencing a significant crisis in its operation, this has caused hundreds of flights to be cancelled and delayed around the country.
Last minute changes, queues, and confusion are some of the ills passengers are grappling with. This has caused a sudden break, and the question has been brought up:
What is the reason why IndiGo is canceling such flights?
The issue is associated with an interplay between crew issues, new DGCA regulations, Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL), and operational difficulties. The following is a simple and straightforward analysis of the whole scenario.
A distinct timeline allows seeing the way the crisis was developing:
First signs of trouble came when several flights of IndiGo began to be delayed. Complaints start being piled up via social media.
Delays increase further. Potential pilot fatigue and shortage of crew is hinted at by aviation experts.
A number of metros such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad record the schedule disruption of IndiGo.
Initial statistics indicate that there are more than 80 cancellations within a day.
The issue takes a national dimension. There are delays and missed connecting flights by passengers overnight.
Pilots are reported to decline the extended hours of duty because of fatigue reasons and strict FDTL standards.
DGCA tries to elicit clarification in detail, out of IndiGo, and starts supervising their crew rostering system.
IndiGo admits to massive cancellations and cautions that this will not be settled any time soon.
The FDTL norms, that stipulate the number of hours worked by a pilot or cabin crew member within a day, is one of the largest causes of disruption.
The crews of IndiGo were working at the edge of the line because of increasing passenger demand in travelling, and a tight-knifed winter schedule.
The safety factor also caused many pilots to reject long hours which caused instant shortages.
Recently, IndiGo has increased flights on a number of domestic and international routes.
However, the planning of crews was not in step with the fast growth resulting in an imbalance between the available crew and flights.
Insiders in the industry report that IndiGo has been experiencing a lack of pilots and cabin crew months before.
Pilot fatigue compelled most to go sick and this created a domino effect of cancellations.
New guidelines were provided by the DGCA to enhance safety of the pilots and they included:
These rules are effective to increase safety but airlines require time to adjust schedules of their crew. The transition to IndiGo was not that easy.
Delhi and North India are heavily muggy during the winter season.
As visibility reduces, the runways have lower capacity hence flight stacking, delays and cancellations occur- this has the most effect on IndiGo, because of its huge network.
IndiGo crisis has left thousands of flyers stranded through sheer inconvenience:
Most of the passengers came to airports only to find out that the flight had been cancelled.
The delays were even 6-10 hours.
Lost hotel reservations, transfers, business meetings and medical appointments were some of the issues that caused financial pressure.
Rebooking was very costly due to the high fares in other airlines.
Crowded airports were recorded to have more baggage delays.
DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) has intervened with:
Nevertheless, the most difficult situation is the need to weigh between safety regulations on the one hand, and the strong demand of flights during peak season on the other hand.
The DGCA explained that no relaxation of the fatigue norms of pilots will occur since flight safety can be compromised by pilot fatigue.
Aviation analysts predict the stabilization of the situation, though not in the short term.
It is recommended that passengers should check the status of flights before going to the airport and use SMS alerts.
The IndiGo crisis can be attributed to a series of factors-crew burnout, new FDTL regulations, inadequate roster scheduling, winter weather and regulatory stress.
Although the first priority is safety, the airline should enhance its planning and staffing to prevent such disruptions in the future.
Until all of that is totally normalized, passengers are advised to keep up to date, and travel with additional buffer time.
Q-1. Why is IndiGo canceling so many flights?
Ans- This is because of crew shortages, pilot fatigue, new DGCA rest regulations, winter fog delays and operational mismanagement.
Q-2. What are FDTL norms in aviation?
Ans- Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) refers to regulations that establish the maximum length of time that pilots and cabin crew may work and the amount of rest that they should take to prevent accidents.
Q-3. How many flights were canceled during the IndiGo crisis?
Ans- Between December 2 and December 8, hundreds of flights were canceled and additional delays in major cities were experienced.
Q-4. What should passengers do if their IndiGo flight gets canceled?
Ans- Ask about the status of the check online, rebook or get refunds, and reach out to the customer care.
Q-5. When will IndiGo operations return to normal?
Ans- The airline is making efforts to correct rosters, and it may take several days before it is fully normalized, as winter weather and staffing issues are involved.
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