IndiGo Crisis: DGCA Suspends 4 Flight Operations Inspectors
FOIs are senior officials within the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, working as part of its regulatory and safety oversight functions, often deployed to monitor airline operations
New Delhi: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has sacked four Flight Operations Inspectors (FOIs) over massive disruptions in IndiGo's operations.
These FOIs are senior officials, hired on contractual basis from various airlines, to work the DGCA as part of its regulatory and safety oversight functions, and often deployed to monitor airline operations. These officials ensure aviation safety by inspecting, auditing, and certifying airlines and personnel, such as pilots, dispatchers, and cabin crew, to meet strict regulatory standards, verifying various regulations and overseeing training, flight standards, and accident prevention measures in India.
The FOIs -- Rishi Raj Chatterjee, Seema Jhamnani, Anil Kumar Pokhariyal and Priyam Kaushik -- have been immediately relived from DGCA and told to join their respective parent organizations. Sources said these four FOIs have been suspended in connection with the recent large-scale disruptions in IndiGo's flights.
The DGCA on Friday called IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers and COO Isidre Porqueras for a second day to face the probe committee. Meanwhile, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) is also examining whether IndiGo violated competition norms.
The DGCA officials are already stationed at the IndiGo’s headquarters to monitor day to day operations.
While the DGCA is probing the flight disruptions apart from stepping up the scrutiny of IndiGo's operations, there are concerns in certain quarters on whether the airline's dominant position could also have been a contributing factor. According to officials, various aspects, such as the overall dominant position, dominance in particular routes, and whether there is abuse of dominance, will be looked into. There is no formal complaint against IndiGo so far, and the CCI is examining whether competition rules have been violated suo motu.
Section 4 of the Competition Act pertains to abuse of dominance that can be exploitative or exclusionary. Exploitative refers to acts such as excessive pricing, while denial of market access will fall under the exclusionary segment. Under the norms, CCI first carries out a detailed examination of available information to reach a conclusion on whether there is prima facie evidence of competition norms violations. Only when there is prima facie evidence of violations, then the regulator orders a probe into the matter.
“Captain Illson brings more than four decades of aviation experience across the FAA, ICAO, IATA and major global carriers. With an illustrious track record in global air transport, he brings extensive expertise in global aviation strategy, customized consulting, safety leadership, setting international standards, and new aircraft technologies. The objective is to conduct an independent root cause analysis of the recent operational disruption, besides opportunities for improvement. This decision follows the recommendation of the Crisis Management Group (CMG) constituted by the IndiGo Board. As part of its assessment, the CMG advised commissioning an independent expert review in the matter. With the Board’s approval now in place, the review will begin at the earliest, and the independent
expert reviewer will submit a comprehensive report to the Board upon completion,” said IndiGo Spokesperson.
Meanwhile, IndiGo said its operations have nearly normalised since the last four days, and the airline had targeted to operate over 2,000 flights ton Friday, as per its revised scaled down schedule.
