IndiGo's operational crisis persists on Monday, More than 350 flights cancelled at major airports

IndiGo's operational crisis continues. IndiGo flights are being cancelled and delayed at Delhi and Mumbai airports on Monday. In light of the situation, Delhi Airport issued an advisory for passengers at 6:30 a.m. on Monday, warning them of possible flight delays. Airport management advised passengers to check their flight status before leaving home to avoid any inconvenience at the airport.

Large number of flights cancelled on Monday as well

More than 350 flights were cancelled on Monday, including 18 IndiGo flights at Ahmedabad Airport as of 8 a.m. Monday. Bengaluru Airport saw 127 flights cancelled. Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport saw 77 flights cancelled, and Delhi Airport saw 134 flights cancelled. Terminal areas at Chennai, Ahmedabad, and Assam airports were heavily congested. In the past week, nearly 4,000 IndiGo flights have been cancelled, severely impacting the country's air traffic. Despite government intervention, the situation has yet to return to normal.

IndiGo seeks time to respond to DGCA

IndiGo Airlines has requested more time to respond to the DGCA's notice. The DGCA issued a show-cause notice to IndiGo on Saturday, December 6, seeking answers regarding IndiGo's operational crisis. In the notice issued to IndiGo CEO Peter Elbers and COO and Accountable Manager Porqueras, the DGCA stated that there was a significant failure in operational planning and resource management. The notice stated that the ongoing crisis at IndiGo was primarily due to the inability to implement the new FDTL regulations, and asked why action should not be taken against the airline.

Government investigating IndiGo crisis

The DGCA had given IndiGo 24 hours to respond, which expired on Sunday. However, IndiGo sent a letter to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Sunday, requesting one more day to respond to the notice. The government is investigating the ongoing crisis at IndiGo. A four-member committee formed by the government is also investigating whether IndiGo wasted time until October and tried to obtain exemptions from implementing the FDTL regulations. The government believes that IndiGo, the country's largest airline, did not make any plans to implement the FDTL regulations, leading to the operational crisis.

Following strict government directives, IndiGo Airlines refunded ₹610 crore to passengers by Sunday evening. The company also returned more than 3,000 passenger bags across the country. The Ministry of Civil Aviation announced this on Sunday evening.

Bomb threats to three flights at Hyderabad airport

Amidst IndiGo's operational crisis, bomb threats were made to three flights at Hyderabad airport on Sunday. The threats were made via email to the airport's customer support ID. The airport received bomb threat emails late Sunday night targeting British Airways (BA 277) from Heathrow, Lufthansa (LH 752) from Frankfurt and IndiGo's 6E 7178 from Kannur. However, all the flights that received the bomb threats landed safely at the airport. The airport management said that all security protocols were followed during the landing of the aircraft. Last week too, Rajiv Gandhi International Airport had received separate bomb threat emails for Dubai-Hyderabad Emirates flight and IndiGo's Medina-Hyderabad and Sharjah-Hyderabad flights. Medina-Hyderabad was diverted to Ahmedabad airport.