India slaps $2.45 mn fine on IndiGo for mass flight cancellations

New Delhi: India s civil aviation regulator on Saturday imposed a fine of $2.45 million on IndiGo, the country s biggest airline, for poor roster plan...

New Delhi: India's civil aviation regulator on Saturday imposed a fine of $2.45 million on IndiGo, the country's biggest airline, for poor roster planning that led to large-scale flight cancellations in December.

Airports across India were thrown into disarray late last year, with the private carrier admitting "misjudgement and planning gaps" in adapting to a new policy of pilot rest.

Over 4,000 mostly domestic flights were either cancelled or delayed for over a week across the country, stranding hundreds of thousands of passengers.

The operational meltdown came even though IndiGo had two years to prepare for the new rules aimed at giving pilots more rest periods in between flights to enhance passenger safety.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said it was levying the penalty for several lapses, including "failure to strike (a) balance between commercial imperatives and crew members' ability to work effectively".