IndiGo crisis: DGCA sets up 8-member oversight team; 2 members to be deployed at airline's corporate office

Mumbai: Tightening the screw on Rahul Bhatia-controlled IndiGo, aviation safety regulator DGCA has set up an eight-member oversight team, following the airline cancelling flights in large numbers due to crew shortage. According to an order issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Wednesday, the oversight team will comprise a Deputy Chief Flight Operations Inspector, senior FOIs (Flight Operations Inspector), and two FOIs. Of them, two members will be deployed at the airline's corporate office on a daily basis, and they have been mandated to look at the airline's total fleet, average stage length (distance that an aircraft travels in one leg), total number of pilots, network details, crew utilisation in hours, and crew under training, among others.

These two members of the oversight team will also keep a watch on flights per day, unplanned leave per day, total number of sectors affected on account of crew shortage, as well as cockpit and cabin crew on standby per day per base, the DGCA order said. Besides, two more officers from the DGCA office - a senior statistics officer and a deputy director - will also be deployed at IndiGo corporate office to monitor the status of domestic and international cancellations, refund status, on-time performance, compensation to the passengers as per the civil aviation requirement and baggage return, the order said. Both teams will submit a daily report by 6 pm to Joint Director General (Administration) Harish Kumar Vashishth and Joint Director General Jai Prakash Pandey. IndiGo has been facing operational disruptions for more than one week after the new crew rostering rule came into effect allowing increased rest periods for pilots and other staff, resulting in hundreds of flight cancellations and delays.