Did IndiGo Exaggerate The Crisis? A Minor Pilot Deficit And a Major Meltdown

New Delhi: IndiGo's chaos did not end even on Monday. There were fewer flights canceled compared to earlier days, but the problems faced by passengers remained the same. The country's largest airline appeared to be struggling with problems for the seventh consecutive day. People kept wandering for hours at many big airports, including Delhi. The government has clearly said in the Parliament that action will be taken against IndiGo, and that action will be such that other airlines will also look at it as an example.

Question on cleanliness of Indigo—who is ultimately responsible?

The airline has claimed that the implementation of the new FDTL system caused problems in crew planning, and the situation worsened due to less buffer staff. The company says there is no shortage of pilots; they just haven't been able to create as much additional staff as other airlines have.

This raises a bigger question—when there was full time to change the rules, why was the recruitment not done on time? Where did the preparation go?

Shocking claim in the report—was the crisis sudden or deliberate?

A report says that IndiGo has a total of 4551 pilots—including 2357 captains and 2194 first officers. According to the new rules, the airline is short of only 124 pilots. In such a situation, 5–7 percent of flights would have been affected, but suddenly 30–40 percent of flights started getting canceled every day.

This is why questions are being raised—is this crisis not a coincidence but a strategy to create pressure? Was IndiGo trying its hand on the system for some reason?

What did the pilots say?

Pilots Sumit and Vanshika Kakkar said that the planning went awry due to the new DGCA rules. IndiGo misjudged the situation, and confusion arose over FDTL rules. He says that every pilot has to follow the new rules, and Indigo's roster could not fit accordingly.

The government is ready to take action; DGCA summoned the management

The government has indicated that concrete steps will be taken against Indigo. DGCA has asked IndiGo's CEO and COO to appear before it at 11 am on Tuesday. There is also news that some additional routes given to the airline may be taken back. Indigo has already replied to the show cause notice, and the final decision will be taken after its review.

Indigo's reply apologized; it was difficult to explain the reason for the major error

In its reply to DGCA, IndiGo expressed regret for the entire situation and apologized to the passengers. The airline said that the operations are on such a large scale that it is not possible to pinpoint a single reason for the problem.

The company cited technical problems, change in weather, the challenge of the winter schedule, increase in air traffic, and the pressure of the implementation of FDTL Phase II as the initial reasons.

Minister's statement—This is not the problem of the ministry; it is Indigo's own fault

Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said that the crisis is not related to the ministry but is the result of irregularities in IndiGo's pilot roster and their planning.
He said that there was a whole month to implement the new rules, but internal mistakes of IndiGo worsened the situation.