New Delhi/Mumbai, 7 Dec

Aviation watchdog DGCA on Saturday issued show cause notices to IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers and Accountable Manager Isidro Porqueras seeking explanations within 24 hours on the massive flight disruptions, according to sources.

For five days in a row, IndiGo has witnessed significant operational disruptions with hundreds of flight cancellations and delays, causing hardships to thousands of passengers.

In the notices sent to Elbers and Porqueras, the regulator said the large-scale operational failures indicate significant lapses in planning, oversight and resource management.

Porqueras is the Accountable Manager and Chief Operating Officer at IndiGo.

"... as the CEO, you are responsible for ensuring effective management of the airline, but you have failed in your duty to ensure timely arrangements for conduct of reliable operations and the availability of requisite facilities to the passengers," the regulator said in the notice sent to Elbers.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has asked Elbers and Porqueras to reply within 24 hours.

The notices mentioned that the primary cause of the flight disruptions is the non-provisioning of adequate arrangements to cater to the revised requirements for smooth implementation of the approved FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitations) scheme for the airline.

On Saturday, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu, along with senior civil aviation ministry officials, held a "serious meeting" with Elbers to review the situation and address the issues, a government official said.

The official also said authorities will take appropriate action on the IndiGo flight disruptions depending on the inquiry committee's findings.

IndiGo to operate 1,650 flights on Sunday, cancels 650

IndiGo is operating 1,650 flights of its 2,300 daily domestic and international flights on Sunday, and 650 remain cancelled for the day, amid the airline's operations gradually stabilising after massive disruptions in the last five days, the airline said.

IndiGo also said it is expecting to stabilise the network by 10 December against the earlier anticipated timeline of 10-15 December.

In another development, the airline saw its on-time performance from six metro airports on Saturday improving to 20.7 per cent, as per the Civil Aviation Ministry website.

It operated more flights on Saturday at around 1,500 against about 800 cancellations.

The disruptions have resulted in hundreds of flight cancellations and delays in the last few days, causing hardships to thousands of passengers.

"Following the recent operational disruptions, IndiGo confirms that we are establishing further significant and sustained improvements across our network. On Sunday, we are on track to operate over 1,650 flights, up from around 1,500 flights on Friday," an IndiGo spokesperson said in a statement.

Friday was the worst for the airline in its history as it cancelled around 1,600 flights in the wake of the crew shortage, following the implementation of the second phase of the court-mandated new flight duty and rest period norms, which apply to all domestic airlines, but have now been relaxed for IndiGo by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

The spokesperson said the airline is making "very significant" progress in restoring its flight schedules and strengthening the customer support systems.

Also, cancellations were made at an earlier stage, allowing the airline to inform customers timelier, IndiGo said, adding that its teams are working to stabilise operations.

The refund and luggage process is in full action for direct and indirect bookings, it said while urging customers to check the latest flight status on its website before proceeding to the airport, as we are diligently working to improve our operations.

"We continue to work closely with all authorities and stakeholders to ensure a swift return to full normalcy," the spokesperson said.