New Delhi:

IndiGo issued an apology on Saturday after passengers aboard the Delhi-Varanasi flight complained that the aircraft’s air conditioning system had malfunctioned. Responding to the entire matter, sources within IndiGo said that the AC was functioning properly, but a temperature shift caused the cabin to heat up, leading to panic among the passengers.

“We extend our apologies for the inconvenience experienced on flight 6E 2235 operating from Delhi to Varanasi on September 5, 2024,” read a press statement from the airlines.

“The discomfort was attributed to fluctuations in cabin temperature, which were adjusted in response to passenger requests. Our cabin crew promptly extended assistance to the affected passenger to address the situation,” added the statement.

The video of the incident, which took place on Thursday on flight 6E 2235, shows flyers in utter discomfort.

According to reports, several passengers fainted due to intense heat and suffocation, while others were seen using magazines to cool themselves.

A similar incident took place in June this year on the Delhi-Bagdogra flight when the AC of an IndiGo flight stopped working for an hour.

The airline had issued a statement and said, “IndiGo flight 6E 2521 between Delhi and Bagdogra was delayed due to high ground temperatures impeding operations. IndiGo prioritises passenger safety above all else and is taking steps to enable a prompt departure. Passengers are being provided with regular updates, and we regret the inconvenience caused due to factors beyond the airline’s control.”

Nagpur:

An IndiGo flight from Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh to Hyderabad in Telangana was diverted on Sunday to Nagpur following a bomb threat.

In a statement, IndiGo said its flight 6E-7308, scheduled from Jabalpur to Hyderabad, got diverted to Nagpur International Airport on Sunday morning due to a bomb threat message on board the aircraft.

“Upon landing, all passengers were disembarked, and mandatory security checks were promptly initiated. Passengers were provided with assistance and refreshments,” the statement added.

A police official said the bomb threat message was written on a piece of paper, which was found in the bathroom of the aircraft.

However, nothing suspicious was found after a thorough check by security agencies, the official added.

An airport official said the flight is expected to resume its journey at 2 pm. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Kolkata:

A Bengaluru-bound IndiGo flight had to make an emergency landing at the Kolkata airport minutes after take-off on Friday night due to an engine failure, a senior official said.

Flight 6E573 from Kolkata to Bangalore, which became airborne at 10.36 pm on Friday, made an emergency landing at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) airport at 10.53 pm after failure of its left engine, he said.

However, no fire or spark was reported, the Airports Authority of India spokesperson said on Saturday.

The full emergency declared at 10.39 pm was withdrawn at 11.08 pm, he said.

Both the runways at NSCBI airport were handed over to the Air Traffic Control (ATC) to make those available for the plane to land back safely, the spokesperson said.

“It was learnt that the left side engine of the aircraft failed after take-off as a result of which it had to come back to Kolkata,” he said.

The airline in a statement said the flight returned to origin after take-off “due to technical issues”.

“The pilot followed necessary procedures and landed back at Kolkata,” it said.

“Passengers were served with refreshments and an alternate aircraft was arranged to operate the flight. We regret the inconvenience caused to the passengers,” the statement added. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Image used for representative purpose only.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

IndiGo will be soon introducing the gender-neutral option of honorific ‘Mx’ for passengers at the time of booking tickets, as part of larger efforts to boost inclusivity.

Besides, the country’s largest carrier, which has a domestic market share of 62%, aims to increase by two-fold the number of individuals with disabilities employed by it.

The airline will be introducing the ‘Mx’ option at the time of booking for passengers and that will provide a choice for transgenders who do not want to identify themselves, Sukhjit S Pasricha, Group Chief Human Resources Officer at IndiGo, told PTI.

Currently, ‘male’ and ‘female’ are the options available on the airline’s website during the booking process.

Air India Express and Vistara already offer the ‘Mx’ option for passengers at the time of booking tickets.

Mr. Pasricha said IndiGo has implemented various initiatives for the LGBTQ+ community, including employee referral programmes specifically designed to encourage hiring of LGBTQ+ individuals.

“This has strengthened candidate mobilisation through internal resources and fostered a more inclusive environment for LGBTQ+ employees… we partner with agencies specializing in LGBTQ+ recruitment,” he said.

According to him, there is a steady induction of LGBTQ+ individuals and they are working in various functions, including flying, at the airline.

“Our benefits like gender reassignment surgery, inclusion of live-in partners in the medical insurance, has created an even more inclusive space, and has been one of the attractive features in our outreach to aspiring candidates from the community,” he added.

At the end of March 31, 2024, the airline had 36,860 permanent employees, including 5,038 pilots and 9,363 cabin crew.

“Our organisation has over 240+ individuals with disabilities across 60+ cities in customer-facing roles. The placement of individuals with disabilities is determined based on multiple factors, including safety, accommodation requirements, and skill mapping.

“We prioritise merit-based hiring and have primarily employed individuals with disabilities as customer service officers/executives for airport operations roles, with some also serving in cargo teams,” Mr. Pasricha said.

He also said the airline aims to increase the number of individuals with disabilities employed by it by at least two-fold in the coming financial year.

The Bureau of Immigration has slapped a penalty of Rs 1 lakh on IndiGo for alleged visa-related violations.

In a regulatory filing, IndiGo’s parent InterGlobe Aviation said there is no material impact on financials, operations or other activities of the company due to the fine.

The penalty of Rs 1 lakh has been imposed by the Bureau of Immigration, which comes under the home ministry.

The communication regarding the penalty for alleged “visa-related violations” was received by the airline on June 11, as per the filing on Tuesday.

Specific details were not disclosed.

Explaining the delayed disclosure to the BSE, the company said it was “exploring possibilities for filing of appeal against the order”.

New Delhi:

After flying for nearly 18 years, the country’s largest airline IndiGo on Thursday announced it will introduce business class in flights this year, as the carrier seeks to provide more options for passengers amid rising economic growth.

The airline will launch a “tailor-made business product”, the details of which will be unveiled around August that will also mark the 18th anniversary of the carrier.

The latest announcement also comes less than a month after the profitable carrier said it would buy 30 wide-body aircraft.

“In a groundbreaking move to redefine business travel in India, IndiGo, India’s most preferred airline, announces the plan to launch a tailor-made business product for India’s busiest and business routes,” IndiGo said in a statement.

Currently, the airline only has economy class. It has a fleet of more than 360 aircraft and operates around 2,000 flights daily.

Emphasising that it is time to take the next step in its evolution, IndiGo said that considering India’s soaring economy and the evolving aspirations of Indian society, it is time for IndiGo to redefine premium travel in India, increasing the availability of this service for the nation.

“It will create a desired option for many who are aiming to travel business, perhaps for the first time in their lives,” the release said.

“This product will be available on the busiest, and business routes of the nation and will be operational before the end of this year. Coming August, around IndiGo’s anniversary, more details on product offering, launch date and routes will be unveiled,” the statement said.

IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers said the airline is constantly looking at innovating service offerings.

“Over the past 18 years, India’s and IndiGo’s growth stories have been closely interlinked. We believe as India gears up to become the third largest economy in the world, it’s our privilege to provide the New India even more options to choose from as they travel business,” he added.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

An IndiGo passenger took to social media to recount her harrowing experience travelling by the airline. She stated that her flight was initially cancelled by the airline which cost her a lot and a day later, her flight was delayed.

The passenger, Swati Singh, took to X (formerly Twitter) and wrote, “Indigo flight cancellation cost me $$$$ and the manager response was-I have no option. What is India’s Aviation Minister doing?” She added in a follow-up post, “Hi, my pnr is GP5HGY and I had to miss my international flight to Seattle. This is making me think if I want to travel to India with experience like this. Also I have been here since 3 pm and no one ask us even a glass of water at 9:40 they are serving poor quality food.”

Ms Singh said that some passengers, who were diabetic patients, were “forced to eat sugary food to keep up with the inconvenience.” She said on May 11, “The managers answer is ‘we have no option’ Why is the aviation ministry not putting penalties on big corporations like #indigoairlines when common man is suffering?”

Another flight delayed by @IndiGo6E#diabetic patients forced to eat sugary food to keep up with the inconvenience. The managers answer is “we have no option “ Why is avaiatiin ministry not putting penalties on big corporations like #indigoairlines when common man is suffering? pic.twitter.com/AGz8sHDRYu

— Swati Singh (@swtsingh34) May 11, 2024

She also shared a video of an exchange between airline staff and an elderly passenger. The woman says in the clip, “We have been worried since yesterday afternoon. The urgent work that we needed to do could not be done. We will complain to IndiGo’s chairman in Delhi.”

The airline took note of the same and replied to Ms Singh’s post. The official account of IndiGo said, “Ma’am, this is not the experience we aim to provide our customers. We regret the inconvenience. Please share your PNR with us via DM so we may check this immediately and assist you further. Vandana”

Since being shared, the post has amassed a lot of reactions online.

“Airlines r taking Indians for a ride. They cancel flights & they are not penalised,” said a person.

Another wrote, “I guess Indigo is hiring in bulk without proper scrutiny and training of candidates. What quality will u expect. Definitely not a classy one.”

Representational file image.
| Photo Credit: Velankanni Raj B

Budget carrier IndiGo, which has an all-narrowbody fleet, announced its foray into widebody planes with an order of 30 Airbus A350-900 aircraft which are expected to be delivered to the airline from 2027 onwards.

In addition to the firm order of 30 A350s, IndiGo said in a press statement that it also has purchase rights for an additional 70 Airbus A350 Family aircraft “for possible future needs under certain conditions.”

The airline has nearly 359 aircraft in its fleet, which include 128 A320 family of aircraft ( comprising 3 freighters), 44 ATR regional jets. There are also two widebody Boeing 777 aircraft which were brought into the fleet on wet lease from Turkish Airlines in order to cope with global supply chain issues following Covid-19.

Last year, in June 2023, IndiGo placed the largest ever single aircraft order by any airline for 500 aircraft with Airbus putting the outstanding orderbook of A320 Family of narrow body planes at 1,000 aircraft which will be delivered until 2035. The airline’s CEO Pieter Elbers has said that IndiGo will double its fleet by 2030.

“I have leapt off a cliff. I can either grow wings or crash.” This is how a young trainee pilot describes his predicament after spending five years and ₹1.07 crore on learning how to fly, along with a steep employment bond of ₹50 lakh which locks him in for five years with the country’s biggest airline, IndiGo.

In his early 20s, Aravinth Nair* has already witnessed the cyclical and volatile nature of the aviation industry in his fledgling career. First, there was the closure of Jet Airways in 2019 just when he was preparing to embark on his flight training programme after finishing high school. That was followed by COVID-19 the next year when his training was temporarily suspended, even as the spectre of mounting interest on the loan incurred to pay his flying school fee loomed large. Then came the Go First closure in May 2023 that flooded the market with jobless but experienced pilots and delayed his induction at the airline, resulting in an extended wait before he could start repaying his loan. These are just some of the stressors that, unknown to most, hide behind the sheen of a “fat” pay cheque.

Costly training, illegal bonds

Add to this, the unpredictable training timelines that can stretch for up to four years before one can even land an airline job, and the loans incurred to pay exorbitant flight training fees ranging between ₹80 lakh and ₹1.2 crore that can take 10 to 14 years to repay. Pilots also find themselves tethered by “illegal” employment bonds of ₹20 lakh for Vistara or ₹50 lakh for IndiGo in the form of undated cheques, locking them in with the company for a period of two to five years at a fixed salary lower than prevalent market standards. Air India too requires new joinees to furnish a bank guarantee of ₹25 lakh for five years, for which pilots often pledge their fixed deposits or incur loans. These bonds or bank guarantees are in addition to costs borne by pilots for induction training of six to nine months at airlines; at Air India, this costs ₹14 lakh, while Vistara charges ₹12 lakh.

There is also the bureaucratic red tape that can mean three months to clear medical assessments and at least a two-month wait just to be issued a licence by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. Such factors have a cascading impact on a pilot’s career as these delays could cause other permits to lapse even before one has secured a job.

‘Caught in a chokehold’

The multiple challenges involved in becoming a pilot in India today is also at the heart of the current unrest at Vistara. The airline’s junior pilots have strongly objected to a revised salary structure announced in mid-February which offers them a guaranteed flying allowance for 40 hours instead of the current 70 hours, resulting in a pay cut of 24% to 40% on a salary of ₹3.4 lakh per month. However, many find themselves, as one Vistara First Officer described, “caught in a chokehold” and unable to leave.

“Nothing went off as I had expected. Because there is unpredictability over jobs, I opted for IndiGo’s cadet training programme that cost me ₹1.07 crore five years ago but guaranteed a job at the airline. I paid a premium for a well-known brand and a complete end-to-end package that I hoped would also take care of complex and lengthy regulatory requirements,” recounts Mr. Nair, who is now a First Officer at IndiGo. But that’s not what happened, and the training itself took four years to complete instead of two.

‘Do-or-die situation’

Once he finished his training and joined IndiGo, the induction training for freshers like him was also delayed by four to five months as the airline hired 200 trained pilots from Go First after the latter shut operations.

The delay in induction meant that Mr. Nair would only receive 40% of his salary of ₹2.2 lakh, or ₹90,000 per month, until he was released to fly for the airline, resulting in a longer wait to be able to repay his loan.

“The financial burden is so huge that it is a do-or-die situation for me. I am in a position where I am forced to succeed,” says Mr. Nair.

Several First Officers at Vistara told The Hindu that while the new salary terms were not acceptable, they had no choice but to agree to them because of an ultimatum from the airline’s human resources department that not doing so would result in their ouster from the merged Air India and impact their upgrades.

‘Illegal pay cut’

“The new pay structure announced at Vistara entailing a pay cut for First Officers is illegal because it is a fundamental principle in labour laws that contractual terms can’t be altered to the detriment of an employee after he or she has joined the company. The conditions can be made more favourable though,” said aviation lawyer Yeshwanth Shenoy.

The Hindu sent specific queries to Air India, Vistara and IndiGo but all of them declined to comment.

“We are caught in a chokehold because aviation is a blackhole of money,” said a Vistara First Officer who has decided to stay at the airline as he is expecting an upgrade to Senior First Officer, which will mean a salary bump of nearly ₹1 lakh.

“Firstly, there aren’t many airlines left in the country and IndiGo is the only viable alternative. At some airlines like Air India, even appearing for a job interview requires spending upto ₹1 lakh for a simulator examination. And many First Officers can’t even go overseas as foreign airlines need an Airline Transport Pilot Licence which requires 2,000 hours of flying, which pilots don’t have so early in their career,” he explained.

Junior pilots ‘exploited’

Pilots across the industry are enraged over how Vistara’s new pay structure deliberately “exploits” junior pilots who are unable to reject the new contract because of their vulnerable position. The senior pilots, on the other hand, have received favourable terms where they will earn a sum equivalent of 70 hours of flying under the old regime by flying only 50 hours to 60 hours under the new pay regime.

Quitting an airline in India is also not easy. First Officers have to serve a notice period of six months, whereas foreign airlines like Etihad will only wait for three months for a pilot to join. Then there are employment bonds that tie up pilots for up to five years, and are “illegal”, according to Mr. Shenoy.

“These bonds violate Section 27 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 which lays down that any agreement by which any one is restrained from exercising a lawful profession, trade or business of any kind is void. As these are civil matters or disputes between a private person and an enterprise only an aggrieved pilot can file a legal case but which pilot will challenge his airline and bell the cat,“ he asks.

Training fees

Even the cost incurred by pilots for their induction training at an airline is unlawful, explains Mr. Shenoy. “Any expenditure incurred on training that is necessary to fulfil the obligations of employment have to be borne by the employer. Pilots can’t be made to pay for this,” he said. Pilots also wonder why they have to pay millions for airline training, given that this is carried out on passenger flights that already earn revenue for airlines. Airline sources said on the condition of anonymity that the fee for induction training is levied because of the cost to the company of removing a pilot from flying duties to conduct simulator training as well as to pay for using simulators.

Sometimes, a dream turns into a bird with a broken wing that can’t fly. After 10 years of training, Saurabh Saxena* lost the ₹40 lakh he paid as an airline training fee to Go First when it collapsed last May. With his family having spent ₹1 crore in all, there was no more financial appetite to nurture the dream and he had to join the family business. “I am getting married on April 23 and I know that I am not an alluring prospective husband,” he said.

New Delhi:

An IndiGo flight en route to Bengaluru returned to Singapore after take-off on Tuesday morning as the airline had forgotten to offload the baggage of passengers of an earlier flight.

“We acknowledge the baggage error on the part of our service partner at Singapore airport with respect to flight 6E 1006 operating from Singapore to Bengaluru, due to which the flight returned to origin. The passengers were kept informed of the delay and served refreshments,” the airline said in a statement.

Some social media users complained about the incident.

Tagging IndiGo, a user on X said, “Congratulations on achieving the impossible… Singapore Bengaluru flight at 5 40 am made to turn back coz you guys forgot to offload luggage from incoming flight”.

Another X user said there was mismanagement at Singapore airport.

“@IndiGo6E horrible mismanagement at Singapore airport!6E1006 was in the air for 1.5 hours, from SIN to BLR, landed back in Singapore bec you all mixed up baggages of various flights!!!…,” the user said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)