IndiGo CEO failed to contain crisis, strict action awaits: Minister

Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu said IndiGo's management failed to handle its internal operational crisis, leading to passenger hardship. He confirmed strict action will be taken after the airline's reply to a Show Cause notice is reviewed.

IndiGo's Internal Crisis Led to Failure, Says Minister

Union Minister for Civil Aviation Rammohan Naidu Kinjarapu has said that the IndiGo CEO and management failed in containing its operational crisis and flight cancellations that led to huge difficulties for passengers, and strict action will be taken after looking into the airline's reply to the Show Cause notice.

In an exclusive interview with senior journalist Sudhir Chaudhary on the primetime news programme 'Decode' on DD News, Rammohan Naidu said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi "guided us and told us to focus on passengers and do more for them than what is required".

The minister said that the problems faced by IndiGo Airlines passengers were linked to the airline's internal crew rostering and operational planning. "It was their responsibility, and they have failed in that. And that is why we issued a Show Cause Notice to them. They have replied today, and I am going to study that," the minister said.

DGCA Committee to Probe Crisis

"From this entire IndiGo episode, one thing is clear that this crisis is IndiGo's internal one - relating to problems of crew management and pilot utilization. In light of this, we have formed a four-member committee under DGCA which is expected to come out with all details in 15 days," Naidu added.

Questions Over FDTL Rules Implementation

The minister noted that new Flight Duty Time limitations (FDTL) rules were implemented on November 1 and the IndiGo crisis erupted on December 3 "We need to consider here two things. The new FDTL rules were implemented on November 1. If this crisis was due to these rules, then why did the crisis erupt after one month, on Dec 3? Secondly, when delays and cancellations started on Dec 3. Then why weren't relevant measures and communications not in place? Why weren't the passengers informed beforehand?" the minister asked.

"We will take action after all the details and versions come before us," he asserted.

Passenger Hardship and Relief Measures

Talking about passengers and the ordeal they faced, Naidu said, "passenger misery will be kept in mind too while taking action and future steps".

Action Against IndiGo to Set a Precedent

The minister said an example needs to be set to prevent a recurrence of such a crisis. "We also now want to set an example. At the Ministry, we set rules and regulations. We back it up with vigilance and monitoring. Two days before the crisis, on December 1, the DGCA had a meeting with IndiGo officials - to explain to them FDTL rules and offer whatever clarifications they required. But at that time, IndiGo officials did not raise any issue. Why? What led to such a situation in just two days?" the minister asked.

Passenger Refunds and Baggage Status

On passenger refunds, Ram Mohan Naidu said that from December 2 till now, refunds have been given to 7,30,655 passengers and Rs 745.7 crore has been returned to the passengers. Those who rebook tickets with IndiGo Airlines till December 15 will not have to pay any additional charges.

IndiGo Airlines had a total of 9,000 bags of passengers, out of which 6,000 bags have been returned to the passengers and the remaining 3,000 bags will be given to the passengers by tomorrow. The Union Civil Aviation Minister has assured the people of the country that air travel will become normal after December 10.

The Minister said strict action will be taken after the inquiry committee report. "That will serve as a reference point for all other airlines also, so that there is no repetition of this in future," Naidu told Decode.

Asked if IndiGo's behaviour raises suspicions and why the airline did not reduce the number of flights so as to be able to manage the situation, the minister said it is an obvious question. "That question obviously arises. When the Ministry as well as the DGCA, were open to helping IndiGo in every way possible, then why did they not talk to us? FDTL is applicable to all airlines, but why did such a crisis erupt in certain operations of IndiGo only? And that too after one whole month."

PM Modi's 'Passenger First' Directive

When Decode asked him whether PM Modi called him or asked for a report on the matter, Naidu said, "Yes, he asked. He guided us. Told us to focus on passengers, do more for them than what is required."

Inquiry to Address 'How IndiGo Missed This'

Referring to FDTL rules, he said there was a High Court order in April. "Since eight months ago, we had been talking to airline companies, meeting with them, offering clarifications. IndiGo had been running its operations successfully for 20 years. But how could it miss this? How did it not know the internal problems it was facing? The inquiry committee will address all these questions."

'A Problem with One Private Airline, Not a National Emergency'

Asked if this was a national aviation emergency, Naidu said, "No, it's a problem with one private airline, not a national aviation emergency."

"Be it airport authorities, the CISF or other airlines, every stakeholder came forward with good intentions - to ensure that the brand image of Indian aviation was not impacted and upheld. But IndiGo, due to its internal problems, is a singular incident."

'No Pressure from IndiGo, All Airlines Equal'

The minister said that after assessing the problems, strict action will be taken against the airline. Asked if IndiGo has become too big a monopoly and is it blackmailing the government, the minister said they were under no pressure from the airline.

"No. We are under no pressure from IndiGo or are overwhelmed by it. All airlines, big or small, are equal before the ministry. All rules are applied equally to both big and small airlines. Actually, we often go out of our way to help small airlines. So that competition is equal and even," the minister noted.

"No special treatment is meted out to big airlines."

Vision for Indian Aviation Sector

On the Narendra Modi government's vision for the aviation sector, Naidu said, "We want more airlines to operate in the country, we want more players to enter the aviation sector. We have passed an Act in Parliament by which the leasing of aircraft gets easier. But one bottleneck that we are seeing is the availability of aircraft. After COVID, the aircraft supply chain faced difficulties. Companies manufacturing aircraft saw a slowdown in production. Now we have 1,700 aircraft on order, and we are waiting for those."

DGCA to be Strengthened, But Can't Run Airlines

Asked if DGCA is behaving less like a watchdog and more like a postman, Naidu said, "I will not accept that it is acting like a postman. On matters of operational safety, the DGCA has not made any compromises, even after FDTL. But we will also do an internal review and make changes and strengthen DGCA further."

Asked if DGCA needs more teeth, the Minister said that it absolutely does and it will have more teeth. "But DGCA cannot run airline companies and control their internal operations. That is the responsibility of airlines themselves," he noted.

Intelligence Angle Under Consideration

Asked if India's civil aviation was facing a conspiracy of sorts, the minister said, "We are looking at it from every angle, including the Intelligence angle. We are focusing on technology and guidelines upgrade." (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)