The Gurugram based Budget carrier IndiGo on Friday cancelled as many as 130 flights due to bad weather and shortage of Pilots. Although the number of cancelled flights is not confirmed by Indigo but most reports cite the same numbers.
IndiGo is the largest budget carrier and has a fleet of 210 planes and operates over 1,300 flights per day. Yesterday too the airlines cancelled around 70 flights citing reasons like thunderstorm in Northern India and the partial closure of the Begaluru Airport due to the Air Show.
IndiGo has been facing the shortage of pilots from quite a time as majority of its pilots have already breached the 1000 hour per year rule. The rule bars a commercial pilot from flying for more than 1000 hours per year.
“All these flights were cancelled with one-to-two days prior notice in order to re-accommodate passengers on flights at a similar time as booked. The cancellations on Feb 13th were caused by several factors like anticipated weather conditions on the 14th Feb and NOTAMS (Notice to Airmen) at various airports,” the airline had said
The worst part is the Airline has not even given any transparent data regarding the cancellation of flights and is trying to refrain from acquiescing the issue of shortage of Pilots. The rules by the government mandates airlines to either reimburse the passenger whole amount or arrange a new flight in case of cancellation of flight.