IndiGo on Monday apologised for the nationwide aviation disruption caused by the carrier while seeking more time to respond to a show cause notice issued by the sector regulator. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had given the airline, its CEO and COO time till 6pm Monday evening to respond to its notice issued on Saturday.
In its response, the airline has claimed it is “realistically not possible to pinpoint the exact cause(s)” in the timeline issued by the DGCA. It also noted that the regulator’s manual allows a 15-day response time for show-cause notices.
The airline further claimed that the disruption was the result of compounding effect of multiple factors that came together in an unfortunate and unforeseeable confluence, “including minor technical glitches, schedule changes linked to the start of the winter season, adverse weather conditions and increased congestion in the aviation system as well as implementation of operation under the updated crew rostering rules (Flight Duty Time Limitation Phase II) — which coincided in lesser or greater measure, as per the statement.
“IndiGo is “profusely apologetic” and deeply regrets the inconvenience and hardship caused to customers,” it said. In a statement, the DGCA said it has received the airlines’ response, and it is in the process of examining the response, and enforcement action, as deemed appropriate, will be taken in due course. The two top executives of the airline were given until 6 pm on Monday to file replies to the notices.
Additionally, CEO Piter Elbers and COO Isidro Proqueras are likely to be summoned on Wednesday by the four-member probe panel set up by the DGCA as part of the investigations.
