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India’s aviation watchdog, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), has taken action against four of its flight operations inspectors after IndiGo’s operations were thrown into disarray, causing thousands of flights to be cancelled and leaving thousands stranded at airports across the country.
The suspended officials, known as FOIs, are senior members of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation tasked with regulatory and safety oversight, and are routinely assigned to keep track of airline functioning.
The suspended officials are consultant Rish Raj Chatterjee, SFO Seema Jhamnani, consultant Anil Kumar Pokhariyal, and consultant Priyam Kaushik.
FOIs are senior DGCA officials who play a key role in regulatory oversight, routinely deployed to check airline operations. “Four Flight Operations Inspectors have been suspended in connection with the recent large-scale disruptions to IndiGo’s services,” a source said.
These officers are responsible for ensuring aviation safety through inspections, audits and certification of airlines and personnel, including pilots, dispatchers and cabin crew. Their work involves verifying compliance with aviation rules and overseeing training, flight standards and accident prevention measures.
IndiGo flight cancellations continue
The airline scrapped more than 50 flights from Bengaluru Airport on Friday alone. According to a source quoted by news agency PTI, IndiGo cancelled 54 flights on Friday from Bengaluru — 31 arrivals and 23 departures. The carrier had already grounded more than 200 flights from Delhi and Bengaluru on Thursday amid the ongoing crisis.
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IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers and COO Isidre Porqueras are scheduled to appear before the DGCA’s investigation panel again at 2 pm on Friday.
On Thursday, the regulator intensified its scrutiny of the airline, deploying officials at IndiGo’s headquarters to keep a close watch on operations. Elbers, who was questioned by the DGCA-appointed inquiry panel the same day, has been asked to return for a fresh round of questioning.
The four-member committee—comprising Joint Director General Sanjay Brahamane, Deputy Director General Amit Gupta, senior FOI Kapil Manglik and FOI Lokesh Rampal—has been tasked with identifying the causes behind the widespread operational breakdown at the country’s largest airline.
Its brief includes examining manpower planning, fluctuating rostering practices and IndiGo’s preparedness to implement the revised pilot duty time and rest norms that came into effect on November 1.
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