IndiGo flight cancellations: Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan demands civil aviation minister’s resignation

Senior Maharashtra Congress leader and former Union minister Prithviraj Chavan on Monday demanded the resignation of Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu over the ongoing crisis at IndiGo which has led to severe flight disruptions across the country over the past week reported the PTISpeaking to reporters Prithviraj Chavan described the situation at IndiGo as unfortunate and shocking and alleged that it resulted from regulatory failures and collusion between the government and private airlinesHe argued that the aviation sector must not be allowed to fall entirely into private hands and urged the Centre to start a national airline of its ownChavan called for the resignation of Naidu the suspension of IndiGorsquos CEO and the dismissal of DGCA officials responsible for oversight lapsesMonopoly in the aviation sector is dangerous for the country he said stressing the need for stronger checks and balances according to the PTIHe reiterated his longstanding demand for the implementation of the Civil Aviation Authority a regulatory body proposed during the UPA regime 2004ndash14 when he served as a ministerChavan further said that strengthening oversight is crucial to avoid such crises in the futureThe former Maharashtra Chief Minister also asked the government to set up a Rs 1000crore special compensation fund to support passengers who faced financial losses due to expensive air tickets and widespread cancellations caused by the IndiGo crisisMeanwhile aviation safety regulator the DGCA said on Monday that it has received IndiGorsquos response to the showcause notice issued over the largescale flight cancellations and will take enforcement action after reviewing it reported the PTIThe regulator stated that IndiGo was ldquoprofusely apologeticrdquo and expressed deep regret over the inconvenience and hardship caused to passengers due to the widespread disruptionsThe DGCA said it is examining IndiGorsquos reply and appropriate enforcement measures will be taken in due courseOn Saturday the regulator had issued showcause notices to IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers and Accountable Manager Isidro Porqueras asking them to explain within 24 hours the reasons behind the severe flight disruptions IndiGo later sought more time and the deadline was extended to Monday 6 pm as per the PTIAccording to the DGCA IndiGo submitted its responses signed by both the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Operating Officer on December 8 at 1801 hoursIn its reply IndiGo said the disruptions were caused by a combination of factors including minor technical issues schedule adjustments for the winter season adverse weather congestion in the aviation network and the implementation of the updated crew rostering rules Flight Duty Time Limitation Phase II These factors it said overlapped to varying degrees according to the PTIIndiGo also noted that given the scale and complexity of its operations it is ldquonot realistically possiblerdquo to identify a single exact cause at this stageThe airline further pointed out that the DGCArsquos own manual allows a 15day response period for showcause notices suggesting it needs more time to carry out a thorough root cause analysis the news agency reportedwith PTI inputs