IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers Arrives At DGCA
"If the booking was made through a travel partner platform, the necessary actions for your refund have also been initiated. As we may not have your complete details in our system, we request you to write to us at customer.experience@goindigo.in so we can continue to assist you promptly," the statement read
New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday stepped up scrutiny of the crisis-hit IndiGo with its officials stationing themselves at the carrier's headquarters to monitor the operations and CEO Pieter Elbers being grilled by an inquiry panel.
Earlier in the day, the airline announced a compensation of `10,000 in the form of travel vouchers to passengers whose flights were cancelled or delayed for long during the period from December 3 5. There was no clarity on compensation for the other affected flyers.
IndiGo said it expected to operate 1,950 flights carrying around 3 lakh passengers, while airports reported flight cancellations. Over 200 flights were cancelled at Delhi and Bengaluru airports on Thursday, according to sources.
IndiGo CEO Elbers, who appeared before the DGCA-constituted inquiry panel on Thursday, has been asked to appear again on Friday as the watchdog delves deep into the factors that led to the massive flight disruptions, resulting in hundreds of flight cancellations and impacting thousands of passengers.
The four-member panel comprises joint director general Sanjay Brahamane, deputy director general Amit Gupta, senior flight operations inspector (FOI) Kapil Manglik, and FOI Lokesh Rampal, with a mandate to identify the root causes of widespread operational disruptions at the leading domestic carrier.
The committee's mandate includes assessing manpower planning, fluctuating rostering systems, and the airline's preparedness to implement the latest duty period and rest norms for pilots, which came into effect from November 1 this year.
Officials on Thursday began monitoring IndiGo's operations, refunds, and other processes from the airline's headquarters, sources said.
They said the officials were expected to submit daily reports on the situation at the airline, which has been grappling with significant operational disruptions and the subsequent cancellation of thousands of flights due to planning failures related to the implementation of new pilot and crew duty norms.
IndiGo said its travel vouchers can be used for flights in the next 12 months. While thousands of passengers were impacted, it was not immediately clear how many passengers will be getting the compensation.
“This compensation is in addition to the commitment under the existing government guidelines, as per which, IndiGo will provide compensation of Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 depending on the block time of the flight, to those customers whose flights were cancelled within 24 hours of departure time,” the statement said.
