𝗗𝗚𝗖𝗔 𝗢𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝟭𝟬% 𝗖𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗚𝗼'𝘀 𝗙𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗖𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗣𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲

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The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has started tracking refund and flight operation issues in IndiGo after more than 100 flights were canceled across major airports like Bengaluru and Chennai. Subsequently, the airline’s CEO appeared before DGCA to submit a report on the cause of these massive flight cancellations.

Breakdown of Cancellations Across Major Airports

The unprecedented mass cancellations of IndiGo flights began last week. Delhi and Bengaluru airports were among the worst-hit major hubs. Daily cancellations on Monday saw Delhi report 152 cancelled flights, which included 76 arrivals and 76 departures. Bengaluru followed closely with over 121 cancellations - 58 arrivals and 63 departures.

Hyderabad airport also faced significant disruptions, recording 58 cancelled flights. This included 14 arrivals and 44 departures for the day. Mumbai Airport experienced 31 cancellations. On Sunday, Hyderabad airport alone reported 115 cancellations, while Mumbai saw 112 cancelled flights and Delhi reported 109 cancellations. The wide-scale cancellations left thousands of passengers stranded across the country's airports.

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Government Intervention and the Airline’s Plan for Operational Stability

The government has taken action in response to mass operation disruptions. The aviation regulator, DGCA, asked IndiGo to cut back its wintertime operation by 5%. Later, this number was then increased by the Ministry of Civil Aviation to 10%. This move was aimed at stabilising the services and reducing further cancellations. 

The DGCA temporarily relaxed some flight duty norms for pilots to ease pressure on the stretched crew rosters. IndiGo's CEO, Pieter Elbers, appeared before the DGCA after the summons. The airline stated it was "profusely apologetic" for the chaos and has reportedly formed a crisis management group to monitor the situation.

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The airline also processed refunds totaling hundreds of crores for cancelled flights. The CEO indicated operations were returning to a stable state and that IndiGo expects full operational stability to be restored by 10 December.

Despite apologies, hundreds of crores in refunds, and a government-mandated 10% flight cut, IndiGo's massive cancellations stranded thousands. While the CEO promised full stability by 10 December, will these operational changes be enough to prevent a repeat of this aviation crisis?