India fines IndiGo $2.45M for flight disruptions

By Ahmad Adil

NEW DELHI (AA) - India imposed a penalty Saturday of 222 million Indian rupees ($2.4 5 million) on IndiGo after the airline cancelled hundreds of flights last month, causing outrage and prompting a government investigation.

A four-member committee constituted by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to probe the circumstances leading to the “operational disruptions” conducted a detailed inquiry, a statement by the Civil Aviation Ministry said late Saturday.

“The primary causes for the disruption were over-optimisation of operations, inadequate regulatory preparedness along with deficiencies in system software support and shortcomings in management structure and operational control on the part of M/s IndiGo,” it said, adding that 2,507 flights were cancelled from Dec. 3 – 5.

IndiGo, the country's largest air carrier, said Dec. 9 that the airline’s on-time performance has returned to normal levels.

The ministry said DGCA has undertaken enforcement actions, following the report, including “caution” to the head of the airline for inadequate overall oversight and warnings have been issued to four officials of the airlines.

It asked the airline to relieve the senior vice president of the operations control center “of current operational responsibilities and not to assign any accountable position.”