The chaos caused by India’s largest domestic airline, IndiGo, cancelling or delaying hundreds of its flights in the last few days is unprecedented. Passengers at airports nationwide are a harried lot as they wait for updates on flights. Irate travellers are now expressing their anguish on social media. IndiGo must take the blame for this state of affairs, as it was well aware that the new Flight Duty Time Limitation rules (FDTL) mandated by the civil aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), were to be operational in two phases from July 1 and November 1 after repeated extensions. These rules, brought into force for enhanced safety, include amending the mandatory weekly rest period for flight crew from 36 hours to 48 hours; maximum night landings for crew cut from six to two; and night duties for flight crew capped at three a week. Instead of preparing for the change in rules and recruiting more flight crew, IndiGo opted for a hiring freeze. While the new rules apply to all airlines, IndiGo is the worst affected because of its huge scale of operations that include over 2300 flights a day, many of them red-eye or night flights. IndiGo, which was known for its on-time performance of over 80 per cent, has seen its OTP drop to about 20 per cent in the last few days. The airline has admitted that it had misjudged its crew requirement under the new FDTL rules, leading to the disruptions. There is also a view that the mass cancellations, which have caused severe passenger distress, are a pressure tactic by the airline to defer implementation of the new norms. IndiGo has sought an extension till February 10 to stabilise flight operations. Amidst public outrage over the disruptions, DGCA has now withdrawn one part of the FDTL rules which said no leave shall be substituted for weekly rest and offered an exemption till February 10 for night flights.
Meanwhile, it is passengers who are at the receiving end, as they wait endlessly for news on flights. Airports are witnessing chaotic scenes, with people running out of chairs to sit on and resorting to squatting on the floor. The airline has failed to provide basic facilities like food and beverage coupons to its customers. Those who have to attend functions or attend to family emergencies are the worst hit, as ticket prices on other airlines have now shot through the roof. For instance, a Delhi-Bangalore ticket now costs a whopping Rs 50,000. The regulator must take IndiGo to task for its monumental failure. It is unthinkable that a premium airline can treat its passengers with such callous disregard. For the middle class Indian, for whom air travel is still a novelty, the experience should be memorable, not a nightmare.
