00:00The Indigo crisis enters its sixth day.
00:04Their flight operations seem to be limping their way back to normal.
00:08But Indigo has announced that it will operate over 1,500 plus flights today.
00:12But the reality seems to be in their latest statement
00:15that 650 flights have already been cancelled for the day.
00:18Passengers have been stranded at several airports.
00:21150 flights have been cancelled at Bengaluru Airport
00:24while 115 flights have been cancelled in Hyderabad.
00:27Meanwhile, sources have informed India today
00:29that Parliamentary Committee has taken strict stance on the Indigo incident
00:33and will be summoning all airlines and DGCA over the crisis.
00:37Trouble continues to mount for Indigo.
00:39The DGCA has issued a show-cost notice to Indigo CEO Peter Elbas
00:44over the flight delays, cancellations and other issues.
00:48Now, the CEO has been asked to respond within 24 hours.
00:52The Prime Minister's office is also keeping a close eye on the crisis,
00:55according to government sources.
00:57Indigo is expected to face penalties.
00:59And as flight fare prices shot up amid this chaos,
01:02the government prohibited airlines to charge above fixed fare limits,
01:06citing public interest.
01:08Let's take a look at the reactions and reports
01:10coming in from different parts of the country.
01:12In fact, I bring to you the voices of all those stranded passengers
01:16and the harrowing experiences that they have been facing.
01:19So, currently, I am here at the terminal T2,
01:26which witnessed chaos and mismanagement due to Indigo crisis.
01:30And behind me, in the visuals, you can see still queue outside the Indigo counter
01:34and people are claiming that their flights are being still cancelled by the airlines.
01:38And we have also seen action by the DGCA, who has sent a show course notice to Indigo Airlines.
01:44They have asked the questions on the mismanagement, but still people are coming out.
01:49They are talking about the mismanagement.
01:51They are blaming the Indigo Airlines.
01:52But yeah, big question, who is responsible behind this mismanagement
01:56and who will be answered for the failure of this mismanagement
01:59and the people, those who have wasted their time and money in this crisis
02:03with cameraman Nasir Khan in Mool Bali, Delhi.
02:06We are currently at the Chennai airport.
02:07And if you see, that is the checkpoint where through which the passengers
02:10actually enter the airport to go for the electorate to board their flights.
02:13However, what's happening currently is that instead of going over there directly,
02:17they are coming over here and they are waiting at the kiosk at first
02:20because for now there seems to be a lot of confusion that is still prevailing
02:23over what is the status of their flight.
02:25In fact, many have to come over here and only then they are trying to,
02:29unfortunately they are getting the information that either their flight is rescheduled
02:33or cancelled or they will have to wait for some more time.
02:35You can also see like many of the passengers are carrying toddlers along with them
02:38and they are waiting over here.
02:40The important kind of like issue they are trying to raise at this spot is that
02:43like they are not getting any kind of updation or information.
02:47That seems to be the very big issue.
02:48So are you hopeful that today the flight will depart?
02:52Yeah, yeah, I am very sure that it will be on time.
02:54And I think I have trust on Indigo, it should happen.
02:58No, I am good.
02:59So far, let's hope for it.
03:01So all the people over here, it's morning and people over here are all in a hope
03:09that their flight will depart and they will reach to their destinations.
03:13Yet, we have seen from the last three, four days that the flight were being given
03:20and after that the flight time was rescheduled and after that what happened, it was cancelled.
03:27So people got anxious, angry, agitated.
03:30Here in Chandigarh, there's a footfall of 12,000 to 13,000 passengers on daily basis at Chandigarh airport
03:36and in the last three days, more than 50 flights are being cancelled and there are a number of flights
03:42that are being delayed or being being scheduled.
03:46So passengers are facing issue and there are 8,000 to 9,000 passengers in the last three days
03:50that have suffered so far.
03:52And also, you see how his passenger, he wants to go to Kolkata but his flight has been rescheduled
04:01and the amount has been not defended yet and he will be going by train now.
04:06Now, how are you going with the train?
04:07You're going with the train now?
04:08Not yet, I'll go back to the train now.
04:10I'll go tomorrow at 10.30 at Kolkata.
04:12Why are you not going in the flight?
04:13We don't go out.
04:14We're going out.
04:15We're going out.
04:15It's because of this.
04:16We'll be taking out.
04:16There's something else that will get out.
04:17I'll go out.
04:18If you don't do that.
04:19Then you're going out.
04:20Then you're going to switch off.
04:21I don't know which number is not reachable, it means that no customer has to go to the airport every time,
04:27you have to go to the airport, you have to go to the line, then something will happen,
04:30they will just reschedule it, it means that it is eyewash,
04:34it means that if you are saying that you are selling it, you can give it,
04:37then if you are going to say that it is cancelled, you can give it,
04:40and if you have a trip, you have to book a hotel,
04:43you don't have to do the reschedule, so what do you do?
04:46I mean, when we had 4, we had 10 returning,
04:49we had 4, we had 5, we had 6, we had 7, we had 7, we had 4 days,
04:55we had 2, 2 cameras booked, our parents were going to go to the airport,
05:00how many millions of dollars have already been?
05:02We were saying, you will take a refund, you will take a refund,
05:06you will take a refund, who will bear the hotels there?
05:11So this is the current situation viewers, the stranded passengers asking very important
05:23questions, people who are travelling and remember, it's a time of the year when we see weddings
05:28taking place across the country, we take a look at people celebrating and travelling across the country,
05:36for vacations, for festivals coming up, so yes, it is quite a peak rush time that we see when
05:44such a chaos has completely gripped the country, and people are asking questions,
05:50what happens to the added costs that they are having to spend money with regards to,
05:55who will be bearing those costs, and also people who have important work in different cities,
06:01what happens to their appointments, where do they go? So these are pertinent voices being raised,
06:06pertinent questions being raised by the voices from across airports,
06:09people who are stranded for more than 48 hours at different airports of the country.
06:17And with that, India Today also had an exclusive conversation with the Civil Aviation Minister
06:20Ram Mohan Naidu himself over this very crisis. The Aviation Minister said,
06:24that the new FDTL norms have been relaxed for the sake of flyers, clarifying that the government
06:30did not succumb to any pressure. Listen in to what he has said.
06:39Many in the passengers and the aviation experts are saying that this particular operator wanted
06:47to blackmail the Ministry of Civil Aviation, to do away with the FDTL new norms, and to put you in
06:54a position where it has to be put in abeyance. And you have surrendered to that particular
06:59circumstance as well. That's what many of the civil aviation experts are speaking about. And in general,
07:03people believe that now. My straightforward answer to them is that we have not succumbed to any
07:07pressure. And we have not taken any decision based on the pressure that has been built up or anything.
07:12My first focus, which has been there from the day one of me being the Minister and the government's focus
07:17is also on the people of the country, especially the passengers who are traveling. This is a time where it is
07:22a vacation time. People want to fly out, people want to go and they have, and you know, air travel
07:26is almost related to emergency travel, where they want to fly immediately or reach a destination
07:31immediately. That is when they travel by air. And in those situations, you have so many passengers
07:37who want to fly. It's not Indigo or Air India, they want to fly, they want to get to the destination. So
07:42it is as a minister, my responsibility to take care of them first.
07:45If an operator is not able to run at that full capacity to cater for the passengers,
07:51then I have to facilitate for the travel of the passengers. So again, putting the focus on the
07:56passengers, we have given a temporary abeyance, a temporary abeyance, which is very, very clear,
08:02if you look at that order also, that by February 10, we will go back to the regular FDTL norms,
08:08which everyone else is following. And we have asked them for a strict plan also. And we will monitor
08:14that plan weekly from DGCA, from the ministry to ensure that they will do. And this is a work in
08:19progress. We are also devising the guidelines that the safety or the FDTL norms are not affected much
08:25and the operation smoothen out because of the keeping the season in mind, keeping the passengers
08:30in mind. This is not a country where 20 years the aviation was at a different scale. But today,
08:35you're seeing every other day, you have 5 lakh passengers growing. That is the strength of aviation
08:40today in the country. And you have to keep that momentum going on.
Comments