The Directorate General of Civil Aviation on Thursday removed four of its flight operations inspectors following the disruption of IndiGo’s operations last week, The Indian Express reported.
The officials relieved of their duties with immediate effect are Deputy Chief Flight Operations Inspector Rishi Raj Chatterjee, Senior Flight Operations Inspector Seema Jhamnani, and flight operations inspectors Anil Kumar Pokhriyal and Priyam Kaushik, ANI quoted the order as saying.
The aviation regulator directed them to return to their parent organisations. The officials had been working for the regulator on contractual basis.
The inspectors were responsible for monitoring safety, pilot training and regulatory compliance, The Indian Express reported. Questions have been raised about the regulator’s oversight that possibly led to the crisis.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation employs experienced pilots as flight operations inspectors but does not allow them to operate commercial flights while serving the role. With the suspensions, the aviation regulator has 13 such officers remaining, according to the newspaper.
Air travel has been severely affected since December 2, when a shortage of pilots and crew forced IndiGo to cancel or delay hundreds of flights. The disruption also pushed fares to unusually high levels on several routes.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Civil Aviation directed the airline to cut its scheduled flights by 10% to stabilise its operations. The curtailed operations will also lead to reduced cancellations of IndiGo flights, the Union government said.
While the airline has said its schedule has stabilised, at least 54 flights were cancelled on Friday, the Hindustan Times reported.
The disruptions began earlier this month amid the rollout of stricter work hour norms introduced in November. The revised rostering norms, issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation in January 2024 after concerns about pilot fatigue, were meant to take effect on June 1.
However, airlines asked for delayed implementation because of staffing shortages and operational challenges, and the key changes were eventually introduced on November 1.
The new rules required longer weekly rest, restricted night landings, extended the definition of night hours and limited consecutive night duties.
IndiGo used to operate about 2,300 flights daily and holds about 60% of India’s domestic civil aviation market, making it the country’s largest airline.
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