New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Wednesday (December 10) ordered on-site inspections at eleven airports across the country amid the ongoing IndiGo crisis. The DGCA directed officials to conduct the inspection within two to three days and asked them to submit their report within 24 hours after the inspection.
The airports which are identified for inspection are Amritsar, Dehradun, Shirdi, Cochin, Vijayawada, Tirupati, Nagpur, Jaipur, Vijayawada and Bhopal. As per the DGCA order, these inspections will aim to assess safety standards, the quality of passenger facilitation and operational readiness. The aviation regulator also asked its officials to closely examine the entire situation.
DGCA Order:
Earlier in the day, the DGCA directed IndiGo's Chief Executive Officer Pieter Elbers to appear at its office on Thursday and submit a complete report, along with comprehensive data and updates, relating to the recent operational disruptions, a statement read.
Elbers has been asked to appear at the DGCA office at 3 pm on Thursday. The DGCA also asked senior IndiGo officials from all departments to attend the meeting. As per the regulator's order, the airline has been asked to present information on flight restoration, recruitment plan of pilots and crew, with updated position of pilot and cabin crew strength, number of flights cancelled and refunds processed, among others.
Following large-scale disruptions to its services, which resulted in thousands of flights being cancelled, delayed or rescheduled, the DGCA appointed a panel to probe the disruptions.
The four-member committee was constituted by the DGCA to identify the root causes behind the operational breakdown. It comprises Joint DG Sanjay Brahamane, Deputy Director General Amit Gupta, senior Flight Operations Inspector Kapil Manglik, and FOI Lokesh Rampal.
The IndiGo crisis continued on the ninth straight day with around 100 flights cancelled on Wednesday.
