IndiGo to conduct ‘root cause analysis’ into the crisis; focus shift to stabilising operations: Report

New Delhi, Dec 7 (PTI) IndiGo will conduct a “root cause analysis” of flight disruptions due to a combination of factors and the focus now is on stabilizing operations expected by December 10, a senior airline official said on Sunday.

The official said that the airline has sufficient number of pilots and there is no shortage, with lack of crew planning during the implementation of new flight duty norms being the main reason for major operational disruptions.

“Our number of pilots is good but we may not have the luxury of buying buffers,” the official told PTI.

He also said there was no hiring freeze due to concerns expressed in some quarters that the lean working model may have led to the current situation.

IndiGo has been grappling with major flight cancellations and disruptions in the last five days and the situation is improving as the number of cancellations decreased on Sunday.

The airline, which usually operates about 2,300 flights a day, expects to operate 1,650 flights on Sunday, up from the 1,500 flights operated on Saturday.

“We will need a root cause analysis, which will of course take time… the disruptions were caused by a combination of many factors and which factor played how much of a role (will be known after the root cause analysis),” the official said.

Accepting that the current situation is a learning experience, the official emphasized that there are no inadequacies.

“We are normalizing operations and full stability in operations is expected by December 10,” the official said.

The second phase of flight duty time limitations (FDTL) norms for pilots, allowing fewer night landings, came into effect from November 1. Since then, the airline has experienced some operational disruptions and this week things took a turn for the worse.

Asked why other airlines are not facing similar problems, the official said that for whatever reason, they have a better buffer than IndiGo in terms of number of pilots.

“We didn’t have the same type of buffer. But that doesn’t mean there was a shortage problem, no. These are two different things,” the official said.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued show cause notices to the airline’s CEO Pieter Elbers and Managing Director Isidro Porqueras, seeking explanations for the flight disruptions.

On whether the current disruption situation could have been avoided, the official said, “We will do our root cause analysis…we will do that and then we will find out what the planning error was.”

The official said that the airline is ready for the fog season and that there are enough planes and pilots. We are confident that we will manage the fog season.