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4 inspectors who oversee IndiGo flight ops sacked from DGCA after mass cancellations
The FIOs' suspension comes ahead of IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers' expected appearance before the aviation regulator today.
Four Flight Operations Inspectors (FOIs) have been sacked from their post at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) amid the ongoing IndiGo flight cancellations crisis.
“Contracts of these FOIs with the DGCA have been terminated in relation to the recent IndiGo crisis,” an official said, citing the order dated December 11.
Follow live updates on the IndiGo crisis here.
“Consequent upon approval of the Competent Authority, the following FOls under various categories, on contract basis, in DGCA are hereby relieved from DGCA with immediate effect to join their respective parent organizations”, the order stated.
These officers, according to the order, include; Rishi Raj Chatterjee, consultant, (deputy chief FOI), Seema Jhamnani, senior FOI, Anil Kumar Pokhariyal, consultant (FOI) and Priyam Kaushik, consultant FOI.
FOIs oversee airline safety, pilot training and operational compliance.
According to officials aware of the matter, the DGCA has summoned both the COO Isidro Porqueras and CEO Pieter Elbers on Friday.
“The four member DGCA committee summoned both COO and CEO separately with regard to the on-going investigation,” an official aware of the development said.
“The CEO has been called in the afternoon,” the official added.
According to the data submitted to the government, the airline cancelled around 1,580 flights on Friday, December 5. They are being questioned for their lack of preparedness for the new flight duty time limitations (FDTL) which came into effect from November 1 leading to the massive cancellations.
According to this data, the airline cancelled around 4,290 domestic and 64 international flights between December 1 and 9. At the peak of the disruptions on December 5, the airline cancelled 1,588 domestic flights, about 79% of its domestic schedule. The same day, only 35 international flights, the data showed.
Despite the airline claiming to have restored and stabilised operations from December 8, over 200 flights were cancelled on Thursday. On Friday morning, the number of cancellations was 54.
The disruptions were widely attributed to IndiGo's failure in implementing the second phase of the Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) that came into effect in November. The government also blamed the airline's “mismanagement” and handling of its crew roster.
The government also ordered IndiGo, India's biggest domestic carrier, to cut down its daily operations by 10% in light of the flight disruptions.
