Indigo Airlines has canceled 47 of its flights soon after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) grounded 11 Airbus 320 Neo Planes. The issue came to light when a Lucknow-bound Indigo flight from Ahmedabad had to make an emergency landing due to mid-air engine failure. The plane was Airbus 320 Neo and was carrying 186 passengers.
The DGCA dug deep into the matter and found that as of September 15, there have been 69 cases of Pratt and Whiney engine failure and the number had crossed 100. Consequently, 9 Indigo and 3 GoAir planes with Pratt and Whiney engines were grounded. As a result, Indigo had to cancel 47 of its flights.
The canceled flights are from Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Srinagar, Bhubaneswar, Srinagar, Guwahati, Patna, Bangalore, Amritsar, Kolkata, and others. This cancellation has affected a majority of passengers as dozens of flights stood canceled.
It’s important to note that Indigo operates around 1,000 flights on a daily basis and carries about 40% domestic flyers. While Indigo has 32 planes fitted with PW engines, GoAir has 13 such planes with Pratt and Whiney engines.
After the cancellation of so many flights and grounding of 11 planes, Pratt and Whitney issued a statement, “We are working closely with our customers to minimize the disruption.” The company also said that it has begun to deliver production engines with the upgraded configuration.
Meanwhile, Indigo Airlines released a statement saying that the airline shall comply with the directions of DGCA. Besides, the passengers affected by the cancellation of flights will be accommodated in other flights of the network but safety is the topmost priority for the airline.
