IndiGo flight cancellations: Pilot unions wants court to hold DGCA in contempt

The Indian Pilots Guild (IPG) and the Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) have moved the Delhi High Court seeking contempt proceedings against the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) for granting IndiGo exemptions from the Flight Duty Time Limitation (FDTL) norms.

Shares of Interglobe Aviation, which operates the IndiGo airline, was trading 0.56% higher on Tuesday (Dec 16).

The pilots’ bodies have alleged that the aviation regulator has been providing relaxations to airline beyond the scope of the framework mutually agreed upon by all stakeholders.

They also claimed that the recent operational crisis

at IndiGo — that led to mass cancellation of flights due to an alleged shortage of pilots — was the result of the airline’s own actions and not due to any external constraints.

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A bench of the Delhi High Court has agreed to hear the plea and issued a notice to the Director General of DGCA, seeking a detailed response.

The court observed it would examine whether the regulator could indeed face contempt action for permitting such exemptions.

Defending its decision, the DGCA told the court that it retains the statutory authority to grant limited exemptions under specific conditions.

It clarified that the exemption granted to IndiGo was “not given happily” and is being reviewed every 15 days. The regulator added that the relaxation is valid only till February and that the airline is being pressed to achieve full compliance with FDTL norms before the deadline.

The Delhi High Court has scheduled the next hearing in the matter for April 17.

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