IndiGo Orders Independent Audit After Major Operational Disruption

IndiGo Crisis: InterGlobe Aviation Limited, the parent of IndiGo, has announced the appointment of Chief Aviation Advisors LLC, led by Captain John Illson, to conduct an independent expert review and assessment

of the recent operational disruption and the contributing factors.

The objective is to conduct an independent root cause analysis of the recent operational disruption, besides opportunities for improvement, IndiGo said in the filing.

This decision follows the recommendation of the Crisis Management Group (CMG) constituted by the IndiGo Board. As part of its assessment, the CMG advised commissioning an independent expert review in the matter.

IndiGo Spokesperson said that the review will begin at the earliest, and the independent expert reviewer will submit a comprehensive report to the Board upon completion.

IndiGo, India’s largest carrier by market share, has been grappling with widespread operational breakdowns triggered by planning failures linked to the implementation of new pilot duty and rest norms that came into effect on November 1.

The crisis resulted in thousands of flight cancellations, including over 200 at Delhi and Bengaluru airports on Thursday alone.

As disruptions mounted, the civil aviation ministry directed IndiGo to reduce its winter schedule by 10 per cent from its normal 2,300 daily flights.

Meanwhile, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers was grilled for several hours by a DGCA-constituted inquiry panel on Thursday, and was asked to appear again on Friday as the regulator seeks detailed explanations on the root causes of the crisis.

Shares of IndiGo rose 0.86 per cent to end at Rs 4,860.85 apiece on Friday.