The airliner IndiGo’s chaotic handling of the situation at airports across the country during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India has reportedly not gone down well with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). Sources said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was briefed on the IndiGo crisis, and thereafter, the PMO swung into action, which got in direct touch with the country’s largest air carrier CEO Pieter Elbers.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) also summoned senior IndiGo officials for a meeting, indicating the seriousness of the situation. Sources said there is a demand to seek the removal of IndiGo’s CEO Pieter Elbers, after the airline’s chaotic handling of the new rules for pilots’ rest hours led to mass cancellations and stranded tens of thousands of passengers across the country. A heavy financial penalty is also being weighed on the budget carrier that commands nearly two-thirds of the domestic market share, sources added. IndiGo cancelled over 1600 flights on Saturday, which was 600 more than a day earlier. The airline’s on-time performance from six metro airports plunged to 3.7 per cent on Friday, as per the civil aviation ministry website.

With the carrier’s mass cancellations triggering nationwide chaos, officials are also considering reducing the number of flights that IndiGo is allowed to operate, sources said, signalling the toughest action yet against airline.

As many flights were cancelled or delayed, confusion continued at major airports as frustrated passengers waited for updates and also tried to locate their luggage.

Many took to social media to express their anger as airfares rose sharply on several routes. After days of chaos triggered by the disruption of flight operations, IndiGo has shared a big update.

The airline has reestablished 95 per cent of its network connectivity in terms of destinations.

The carrier operated to 135 out of the 138 destinations on Saturday and is on course to operate over 1,500 flights by the end of the day, IndiGo said in a statement.

Apologising again, the airline said, “While we understand that we have a long way to go, we are committed to building back the trust of our customers.”

“The number of cancellations on Saturday dropped below 850 flights, much lower compared to Friday. We are continuing to work towards reducing this number progressively over the next few days,” IndiGo said in a statement. For refund assistance, the airline said, customers can visit its website or contact customer support.

The airline’s teams are focused on stabilising schedules, reducing delays, and supporting customers through this period, it said, adding, “We are also working closely with all airports and partners to ensure timely updates are provided to customers at terminals, on our website, and via direct notifications.”

The airline, which has been granted major relaxations by the DGCA in the second phase of the new flight duty and rest period norms for pilots, after it told the aviation safety regulator that it was facing significant transitional challenges in roster planning and crew availability under Phase-2 FDTL requirements, also said it is working “determinedly” to bring its operations back on track across the network.

According to a survey, as many as 87 per cent of respondents of a survey conducted on IndiGo passengers said they wanted the service deficiency of the airline to be put under the Class Action provision of the CP Act 2019. A class action provision is a legal mechanism that allows a group of people with a common grievance to collectively sue a company for acts like mismanagement or fraud. The survey asked fliers, “Should the CCPA take up the service deficiency of IndiGo under the Class Action provision of the Consumer Protection Act 2019?”

Out of 32,547 who responded to the question, 87 per cent stated “yes, absolutely”; 3 per cent stated “no, not needed” and 10 per cent did not give a clear answer, it said.

“To sum up, 87 per cent of airline passengers surveyed want CCPA to take up the service deficiency of Indigo under the Class Action provision of the Consumer Protection Act 2019,” it said.

84 special trains announced to ease travel

New Delhi: The Railways announced 84 special trains across all zones for Saturday to help people facing travel disruptions due to the mass flight cancellations by IndiGo. In a coordinated move by the Railway Ministry, the trains, which are to make 104 trips, were arranged in the shortest possible time after analysis of train traffic situations in major cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Patna, and Howrah, among others.

“The number of special trains and their trips might increase further depending on the traffic scenario. All zones have been asked to make use of all available resources, including rolling stock as well as manpower, to safely operate these trains for the convenience of lakhs of passengers stranded at different parts of the country due to flight cancellations,” said Dilip Kumar, Executive Director, Information & Publicity, Railway Board.

Officials said efforts are being made to make people aware of the trains, and some divisions have even disseminated information at nearby airports to help passengers. All zones have issued notifications regarding special trains along with their schedules.