Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu addressed the IndiGo flight cancellation crisis in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, firmly defending the new Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) rules and assigning blame directly to the airline’s internal operations.
The Minister’s statement comes as IndiGo, which commands 60% of India’s domestic market, continues to face massive flight disruptions, having cancelled over 4,500 flights since the large-scale cancellations began on Tuesday last week.
Key Government Stance:
- Blame on IndiGo’s System: Naidu stated that the IndiGo crisis was caused by “problems in its crew rostering and internal planning system.”
- Defense of FDTL: He defended the FDTL rules—which came into effect last month to reduce pilot fatigue—implying they were not the cause of the cancellations.
- No Prior Warning: Naidu informed the Parliament that IndiGo had flagged no issues regarding its operational readiness in a meeting held on December 1, just one day before the mass flight cancellations commenced.
The cancellations have severely disrupted passenger travel plans, leaving thousands stranded across Indian airports. The government’s stance suggests that despite the airline attributing the chaos partly to the stricter FDTL norms, the ultimate failure was in IndiGo’s preparation and resource allocation.