Panel questions IndiGo, DGCA babus, gets 'unconvincing' replies

New Delhi: IndiGo was quizzed on Wednesday by a parliamentary committee over the misery inflicted on passengers by its mass-cancellation of flights, but it blamed a variety of factors, including system glitch and adverse weather conditions, while DGCA and the aviation ministry parried off criticism of their role in the fiasco.

Some committee members termed replies of different stakeholders as "unconvincing" and aimed at washing their hands of the crisis, encapsulated by the response of a govt official that he first came to know of the unfolding ordeal through media reports.


The panel, headed by JDU's Sanjay Jha, decided to wait for the report of an inquiry ordered by DGCA before coming to a conclusion and make its recommendation. It will hold another meeting and is expected to call these stakeholders again. The DGCA-ordered committee was constituted on Dec 5 and was asked to submit its report in 15 days.

Captain Sam Thomas, president of Bengaluru-based Airline Pilots Association of India, created flutter at the meeting by alleging corruption in DGCA and was asked by members to refrain from making sweeping allegations without producing evidence. He alleged that one can commit any wrong, but stay safe if he touched right feet.

A committee member said IndiGo, which has offered apology for the ordeal, was far from apologetic in its response before the panel.

It told the panel that several factors combined to derail its operation, including a glitch in system, which needed rebooting, and adverse weather that had their pilots stuck in different zones.

IndiGo was represented by its COO Isidre Porqueras, while officials of Air India, Akasa Air, Spice Jet and Air India Express appeared before the panel as well. Civil aviation secretary Samir Kumar Sinha and top functionaries of other stakeholders were part of the deliberations.

Replying to a query, IndiGo said all luggage, except 52 which remained unclaimed, have already been delivered.

The panel's meeting came against the backdrop of the suspicion, subject of investigation, that IndiGo remained resistant to the implementation of guidelines (Flight Duty Time Limitation) that allowed more rest for pilots in line with global norms aimed at ensuring flyers' safety.

It has been accused of engineering the disruption, leveraging its market dominance, to force the ministry to roll back the regulation as implementing it would have required the airline to hire more pilots. Faced with chaos caused triggered by disruption of IndiGo's operations, DGCA had to relax the implementation of the guidelines.

IndiGo management is reported to have denied allegation in meetings with ministry.
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