AVIATION safety regulator DGCA has suspended four Flight Operations Inspectors (FOIs) over massive disruptions in IndiGo’s operations, which resulted in the cancellation of thousands of flights and lakhs of people getting stranded across airports. The airline on Friday cancelled around 160 flights from two key airports, Delhi and Bengaluru, amid the on-going disruptions at the airline, sources said.

 

FOIs are senior officials within the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, working as part of its regulatory and safety oversight functions, often deployed to monitor airline operations. “Four Flight Operations Inspectors (FOIs) at the DGCA have been suspended in connection with the recent large-scale disruptions in IndiGo’s flights,” a source said. These officials ensure aviation safety by inspecting, auditing, and certifying airlines and personnel, such as pilots, dispatchers, and cabin crew, to meet strict regulatory standards, verifying various regulations and overseeing training, flight standards, and accident prevention measures in India.

 

The DGCA on Thursday stepped up scrutiny of the crisis-hit IndiGo, with officials stationing themselves at the carrier’s headquarters to monitor operations, and an inquiry panel grilled CEO Pieter Elbers. IndiGo said it is operating over 2,000 flights on Friday as per its revised ‘scaled down’ schedule. Under the winter schedule, which commenced in the last week of October and will run through the last week of March next year, IndiGo was allowed to operate 15,014 flights per week, or 2,144 per day, on domestic routes.