FLIGHT FIASCO: Over 85 J&K flights scrapped in 10 days IndiGo turbulence

Srinagar, Dec 12: A week of chaos left Kashmir’s skies strangely quiet.

The low-cost carrier IndiGo’s operational breakdown stranded J&K’s air corridor, with more than 85 flights scrapped in 10 days, and a probe is now underway to find out why.

Ever since the fiasco concerning IndiGo began on December 3, owing to operational disruptions, over 85 flights of this airline have been cancelled at the Srinagar and Jammu airports between December 3 and 12.

During the last 10 days, a total of over 55 flights were cancelled at the Srinagar International Airport.

As per the Airports Authority of India (AAI) data, December 5 saw 16 IndiGo flight cancellations at the Srinagar International Airport, while 7 flights of this low-cost carrier were cancelled in J&K’s summer capital on December 6.

On December 7, eight IndiGo flights were cancelled at the Srinagar Airport, while on December 8, the flight cancellations fell a bit as Srinagar saw three flight cancellations.

On December 9, five IndiGo flights were cancelled, while five each IndiGo flights were cancelled on December 10 and 11, and on December 12, four IndiGo flights were cancelled from Srinagar.

The total flight cancellations at the Jammu Airport between December 3 and 12 touched 26.

As per AAI data, on December 3, only one flight of IndiGo was cancelled in J&K’s winter capital.

This increased to four flight cancellations of IndiGo on December 4, while all 11 scheduled flights of IndiGo from Jammu got cancelled on December 5.

On December 6, 7, and 8, three flights were cancelled each day.

Two flights of IndiGo were cancelled from Jammu on December 9, while only one flight was cancelled from the temple city on December 10.

On December 11 and 12, four flights on each day were cancelled at Jammu.

Talking to Greater Kashmir, Director, Srinagar International Airport, Javed Anjum said flight operations of IndiGo were likely to see a vast improvement from December 15.

“IndiGo has also reduced the number of flights as per the directive of the Union Aviation Ministry. Even today, there were 5 flights of IndiGo cancelled from Srinagar but we foresee daily flight operations of this airline to get better after December 15,” said Anujm.

Meanwhile, in a statement issued on Thursday, an IndiGo spokesperson announced that the board has approved the appointment of Chief Aviation Advisors LLC, led by Captain John Illson, veteran Aviation Expert, to conduct an independent expert review and assessment of the recent operational disruption and the contributing factors.

Captain Illson brings more than four decades of aviation experience across the FAA, ICAO, IATA and major global carriers.

“With an illustrious track record in global air transport, he brings extensive expertise in global aviation strategy, customised consulting, safety leadership, setting international standards, and new aircraft technologies. The objective is to conduct an independent root cause analysis of the recent operational disruption, besides opportunities for improvement. 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. With the Board’s approval now in place, the review will begin at the earliest, and the independent expert reviewer will submit a comprehensive report to the Board upon completion,” the IndiGo spokesperson said.

He said, demonstrating continuous operational normalisation and stability since the last four days, IndiGo was set to operate over 2000 flights on December 12, as per its revised scaled-down schedule.

“All our 138 operational destinations are connected, and our on-time performance has been consistently normal as per IndiGo standards. Yesterday, we operated over 1950 flights with just four cancellations, due to unfavourable weather, with all affected customers promptly informed to avoid inconvenience,” the IndiGo spokesperson said.